


Breathe You In Like A Vapor

by im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Annoying Michael, Best Friends, Bottom Luke, Bottom Michael, Boys Kissing, Calum Is So In Love, Cheating, Established Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Kinky Luke, Kinky Michael, Kitten Michael, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, Mashton, Michael Is So Done, Mild Kink, Minor Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings, Muke - Freeform, Plot Twists, Shameless Luke, Shy Calum, Smut, Top Ashton, Top Calum, Top Michael, malum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-05-21 15:13:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6056293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance/pseuds/im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum fell for Michael the very first time his eyes landed on him. However, his best friend, Ashton was quicker and happened to be the one who asked Michael out. Being the quiet kind of guy, Calum kept his feelings to himself and instead, focused himself on being as equally annoying to Michael as the other boy was to him. Everything was going fine until that one night and Luke was introduced into the picture. Little did anyone know that innocent Calum's world would turn into something completely opposite.</p><div class="center">
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	1. Pretty But Annoying

**Author's Note:**

> This is the extended version of 'Pet Me', as promised :D

“Another boring day at uni,” Ashton groaned and dropped his bag under the shade of a tree before taking a seat on the grass.

“’s not so bad,” Calum said and joined the other boy. “Did you know there’s a new guy in our class?”

“Yeah?” Ashton leant his back against the tree and stretched his limbs.

“Yeah, I heard he’s a transfer,” Calum stated. “How do you think he would be like?”

“On any other day, I’d be eager to find out but I’m having a hell of a day,” the older boy muttered. “I couldn’t care less, like honestly, Cal.”

“I know, but things are gonna be different now. We’ve moved into an apartment together. No more family drama,” Calum snickered behind his hand.

“Hey, there’s no drama going on in my house,” Ashton creased his eyebrows but laughed when he realised that Calum was only joking.

“Why are you in such a bad mood anyway?”

“Ugh… I’m not done with the work that is due today,” Ashton groaned and pulled his notebook out of his backpack. “I don’t even know what to with it.”

“That’s all?” Calum chuckled.

“You think this situation is funny?”

“A little,” the brunette laughed and shook his head. “I knew you’d be busy while we were moving. So, I finished it for you.”

“Really?” Ashton sighed in relief. He knew he could always count on his best friend.

“No,” Calum replied in a serious voice, trying to hide his smile when he saw the expression on his friend’s face. “Ok, I did it.”

“Calum, you’re a life saviour,” Ashton grinned and pulled the other boy into a hug.

Calum smiled into the embrace and wrapped his arms around the other boy as well. He was always happy to help Ashton, considering how close the two of them were. As it was, they were best friends and they have known each other all their lives. Despite the fact that they were both completely different from each other, that did not prevent their friendship to grow deeper, over the years. The reason they differ from one another was because Ashton was always the fun, friendly, outgoing, talkative type of person and Calum, well, he was more of an introvert person. He was shy, more of a quiet kind of guy but that was only to people he did not know. To his friends, he was as friendly and open as Ashton.

“Excuse me?” a third person interrupted. The stranger looked from Ashton to Calum, back to Ashton again, and smiled. “I’m sorry to disturb you. Umm… I was just wondering if you could help me find my class.”

“No, we can’t help you,” Ashton stated, looking up to the other boy.

“Ashton…” Calum shook his head and got to his feet, smiling at the blonde. “We’d be glad to help.”

“Thanks,” the boy said, his smile never faltering, and moved closer to the other two, tripping over something in the process and spilling his coke on Ashton’s shirt.

“What the fuck?”

“I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“An accident. You ruined my shirt, jerk.”

“Ash, it’s just coke. Calm down,” Calum said and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Sorry about him.”

“It’s okay,” the blonde smiled again.

Calum licked his lips as he stared at the other boy. He had had to admit; the boy was quite handsome. The brunette frowned and kicked that thought out of his head before turning his attention back to the boy. “How can we help you?”

“Yeah, how can we help you, punk?” Ashton asked as he also got to his feet.

“Excuse me?” the blonde creased his eyebrows. “What did you just call me?”

“You heard me, shit-face,” Ashton said and moved to stand in front of the boy, who was slightly taller than him.

“What is wrong with your friend?” he asked as he turned to face Calum.

“Why are you talking to him? I’m the one doing the talking here. So, look at me,” Ashton said angrily.

Calum closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yeah, any person close to Ashton would know not to get on his nerves when he was annoyed already. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the other two who had started bickering and calling each other names. About three minutes passed and they were still having a go at each other.

That was actually day one, the first day they met Michael. Michael Clifford; that was his name. Calum could not forget that day or any other day. Whenever Ashton and Michael’s path would meet, they would always end up fighting. Technically, he knew Ashton was to be blame for it, since he was the one who started everything. But, he could also not overlook the fact that Michael could have kept his calm; as it was, if he did not spill his drink on Ashton’s shirt, none of that would have happened. What could he possibly do? He did talk to Ashton about it but Ashton’s ego was bigger than an elephant. To be honest, he had wanted to get to know Michael but seeing how things were, that made it impossible for them to even have a decent conversation. If it was up to Calum, he would have put an end to that a long time ago but there was not much he could really do, considering he was not much of a talker.

Four months later, one afternoon when Ashton had returned home, he had brought someone along and that person was none other than Michael. Yep, it was the same Michael that Ashton had a problem with. At first, Calum was confused, confused because these two did not get along well, not at all. He watched them closely as Michael followed the older boy into their apartment and the frown that Calum had on never left his feature until Ashton announced it. They were dating. The moment that statement left Ashton’s mouth, Calum’s confused expression was replaced by a shocked one. Dating? When did that happen? How did it even happen? It took him a while to process the whole thing; Ashton and Michael were dating, Ashton and Michael, who could not stand each other, were dating. He wondered how he did not realise it before. Was he too caught up thinking that Michael was so good looking, way too adorable when he smiled and… No, he should not be thinking about those things. Ashton, his best friend, had just announced that he was dating that guy; thus, he should stop thinking about Michael in any other way than him being his best friend’s boyfriend.

After seven months, Calum was still sitting in his living room and thinking about things, about Michael. Despite the fact that it had been seven months since Ashton was dating the blonde, Calum could not help the feelings that were growing inside of him. That was the truth, he liked Michael, since the first time he saw him and no matter how much he had tried to deny it, it was unsuccessful. He liked Michael and there was nothing he could possibly do about it; Michael was his best friend’s boyfriend. But, of course, that did not prevent the brunette from looking at him whenever no one was watching or it did not prevent him from having his own little fantasies about Michael. That was fine with him, he could deal with just watching and thinking about Michael; except, Calum’s problem was the way Michael looked at him and Michael was so irritating all the time.

Deciding to push those thoughts aside, Calum got up and made his way to the kitchen. A good cup of coffee was what he really needed to start his day. Or maybe that was a really bad idea because the moment Calum entered the kitchen, he regretted doing so. There, by the counter, was Michael, naked and humming to some tunes while making himself some breakfast. Calum let his eyes trailed from Michael’s messy blonde hair, down to his neck, further down his back, to finally stop at the swell of his ass. His ass, Calum sighed as he let his eyes linger there for a few seconds. When the other boy shuffled around, Calum shook his head and exited the kitchen, to drop himself on the couch again.

“Good morning, Calum,” Michael greeted, with a huge smile, and dropped himself beside the boy.

“Morning,” Calum mumbled grumpily while staring at the floor.

“Want some breakfast?”

“No, I don’t want your breakfast,” Calum frowned, when he took a peek at the other boy, from the corner of his eyes.

“Morning boys,” Ashton smiled and took a seat on the free spot between Calum and Michael.

“Hey, Love,” Michael said and moved to place a kiss to Ashton’s cheek.

Calum took a deep breath and turned to his left to face Ashton and well, Michael. “Ashton? Can you tell him to put some clothes on?”

“Tell him yourself,” Ashton laughed.

“He never listens to me,” Calum made a face when the blonde grinned at him. “I just don’t appreciate him walking around naked in my apartment.”

“You mean yours and Ashton’s?” Michael laughed and wriggled his eyebrows, shifting closer to the older boy. “I don’t have any problem with my own nudity and I’m sure Ashton doesn’t mind me being naked.”

“Hmm… I love it,” Ashton chuckled, squeezing Michael’s butt.

“Guys…” Calum groaned. “Not here, please.” Shaking his head, Calum looked away from the pair and directed his attention to the carpet again. He was not disgusted or jealous, he just was not very comfortable with the situation.

“I think Calum is jealous,” Michael stated and rubbed himself against Ashton’s side.

“Ha, I’m not jealous of you,” Calum retorted, with a roll of his eyes.

“Jealous of me?” Michael laughed before shaking his head. “I was saying you were jealous of Ashton, you know, for having such a pretty boyfriend.”

“Pretty? You think you’re pretty?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Get over yourself, Michael,” Calum scoffed and got to his feet, to leave but turned around again. “And Ashton, please. Tell your man to stop walking around naked in our house. It’s…”

“Disturbing?” Michael laughed. “Does my dick disturb you?”

“Fuck you!” Calum gritted his teeth; Michael was seriously getting on his nerves. “I don’t feel disturbed by you. It’s just… whatever. Ashton, will you, please?”

“I’ll take care of it babes,” Ashton smiled.

Michael again laughed when Calum exited the room and turned his attention back to his boyfriend, who was sipping at his tea. He took the cup from the boy and placed it back on the table before climbing into Ashton’s lap. “He doesn’t like me much, does he?”

“Oh, don’t worry about Calum. Sometimes, it does take time for him to let people in his bubble. He’ll eventually be cool with you being around.”

“I guess,” Michael shrugged. “Some time, it will take.”

“Hey, are you gonna keep thinking about Calum or do you wanna do something else? Something fun…”

“Something fun?” Michael smiled brightly. “What do you have in mind, my wild stallion?”

Ashton laughed and thrust his clothed penis against Michael’s bare ass. “Exactly what you have in mind.”

Michael wrapped his arms around Ashton’s neck and pressed their lips together while his hips kept rocking back and forth in Ashton’s lap. Smiling into the kiss, Ashton moved his hands to Michael’s waist, slowly trailing one up his back and the other to his ass, squeezing it. When Ashton repeated the action, Michael pulled away and let out a gasp.

“Ahem…” Calum, who had walked back into the living room, cleared his throat.

“Calum?” Ashton pulled away from Michael, who was kissing him again, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Yeah, can you NOT have sex on my couch? I love that couch,” Calum simply said and walked back to his room.

Michael threw his hands in the air and groaned. “He really knows how to kill a good mood.”

“Come on, let’s get to the room. No one will disturb us there,” Ashton grinned and got to his feet, dragging the blonde to his room.

Michael kicked the door closed with his foot and pulled Ashton in for a wet kiss. Gently he pushed the older boy backward and climbed onto his lap again, the moment Ashton’s back hit the mattress. Michael leant forward, pressing a few open-mouth kisses to the side of Ashton’s neck and trailed them to his chest. Lacing his fingers through Michael’s messy hair, he grabbed a fistful and guided Michael’s mouth back to his. The blonde moaned into the kiss when he felt a familiar sensation in his lower body and he rubbed his semi-hard penis against the material of Ashton’s pyjama pants. That reaction caused Ashton to smile and he snaked a hand between them, to wrap his fingers around the length. Again, Michael moaned against the other boy’s mouth and thrust his hips into Ashton’s hand.

When it was getting harder to breathe, Ashton pulled away and looked into Michael’s eyes. “Didn’t you have to meet up with your mom today?” Ashton asked quietly, pushing a strand of hair off Michael’s forehead.

“Fuck it, I’m horny,” Michael laughed and pressed his mouth to Ashton’s chin.

“Really?”

“Yeah, let’s stay in bed all day.”

“Sounds good to me but…”

“But?” Michael asked and bit hard on Ashton’s skin, just below his neck.

“Talk dirty to me,” Ashton said and seductively bit on his lower lip.

“You make me feel so good.”

“That’s all you got,” the older boy chuckled and spanked Michael’s ass hard.

“I like when you put your hands all over me.”

Ashton smiled and ran his free hand along Michael’s back, sending shivers through his body, while his other hand lazily kept working on Michael’s penis.

“Especially when you put your finger in my ass,” Michael said and hissed when Ashton inserted a dry finger in him. “I want your dick in my ass, Ashton.”

Ashton laughed and rolled them over, pressing a quick kiss to Michael’s lips. “Let me get some lube.”

 

 


	2. Intentional

A smile appeared on Michael’s face when he saw Calum pass in the corridor, through the slightly open door. He grabbed the black undies, which was tossed carelessly on the floor earlier and tip-toed in the corridor, after the other boy. Smiling, he quietly walked into the living room and dropped himself in an armchair, opposite the couch that Calum was on.

“I am so horny,” Michael groaned and sprawled himself in his seat.

Calum rolled his eyes and tried not to look at the bulge in Michael’s boxers. “Where’s Ashton?”

Michael grazed the bare skin of his chest with his finger pads and made a face. “We realised that we ran out of lube so he ran downstairs quickly to get some.”

“Is it gonna make any difference if you guys don’t do it for once?”

“Why? Jealous?” Michael laughed when Calum again rolled his eyes.

“I’m definitely not jealous. I’m not a bunny like you two. Can’t stay a day without sex.”

“That’s a sign of jealousy,” Michael laughed again. “Well, my little friend down there doesn’t like restrictions. He likes to be free. And Ashton likes it that way.”

“So you’re dating Ashton just for the sex?”

“No,” Michael shook his head. “You know if you need it too, I don’t mind and I’m sure that Ashton won’t mind either,” Michael said jokingly.

“Fuck off!” Calum shouted and at the same time, Ashton stepped inside, looking back and forth from Michael to Calum.

“What’s going on here?” Ashton asked.

“Nothing,” Michael smiled and walked to Ashton. “I was just having a lil chat with Calum.”

“You sure?”

Michael pressed a kiss to Ashton’s chin and nodded. “Shall we?” Michael asked and grabbed Ashton hand dragging him to the room before looking at Calum one last time.

Calum stretched his arms on his side and yawned. He was tired and all he needed was a good night sleep to boost his energy again. So, the brunette got to his feet and lazily dragged his feet to his room. However, when he reached the corridor, Calum suddenly had a doubt; Ashton and Michael were having sex again. The brunette would often wonder if those two ever got tired as they were always doing it. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and looked at the couch in the living room, then down the corridor, to his bedroom door. Instead of choosing to sleep in the living room like he would normally do when Ashton and Michael were having sex, Calum had decided to go to his room that night; only a bed would be able to get that tiredness out of his body. He restrained himself from knocking on Ashton’s door on his way and went directly to his room.

After getting out of his clothes, the brunette slipped under the covers and pulled a pillow over his head, trying to block the sounds coming from the other room. Calum mumbled a ‘shit’ when a loud moan was again heard, one that belong to Michael, then another one was heard and a few more. Sometimes Calum wondered if they were all unintentional or the other lad did it on purpose to annoy him. Either way, when he heard more disturbing sounds, the brunette let out a frustrated sigh and kicked the blanket off him, to again make his way to the living room.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Ashton smiled as he watched his boyfriend, who was leaning against the desk and smiling back at him. He ran his hands through his soft loose curls and let out a little laugh when the blonde cupped himself through his boxers and Michael shook his head negatively when Ashton was about to get up. Humming, the older lad again made himself comfortable against the headboard and let his eyes fall onto the other boy. Michael smiled and hooked his thumb under the elastic of his underwear, pushing it down slightly before putting it back in place. Ashton’s eyes never stopped following the blonde as he shifted, to sit on the edge of the table, a smile playing on his face. Locking eyes with Ashton, Michael darted his tongue out of his mouth and directed it down, towards his left nipple, trying to lick it but failing miserably.

“I’m not flexible,” he laughed while throwing his hands in the air.

Ashton laughed too, hitting the bed on his side as he did so; Michael could be so stupid at times. “No, you’re not. Why don’t you come join me? I might do it for you.”

“Eager, are we?”

“Quite, yeah,” Ashton smiled and pointed to his erection.

The blonde again laughed but instead of giving Ashton what he wanted, he trailed a hand up and down his chest and the other massaged his balls gently through the material of his boxers. Teasing, that was one amongst all the things that Michael loved doing when it was just him and Ashton. He let out a gasp when he pinched on one of his nipples, rubbing and rolling his finger around it a few time, before doing the same to the other nipple. A gasp escaped his lips when he slipped his hand into his boxers and tugged on the half hard length a couples of times. As it hardened under his touches, Michael slipped out of the underwear and tossed it at the older boy.

Ashton chuckled at the action and threw the dark blue boxers on the floor before making his way to Michael. “You love teasing, don’t ya?”

“Hmm… I love it,” Michael hissed when Ashton took both of his nipples into his hands and tugged hard on them.

“Good…” the older lad whispered.

Ashton leant forward and Michael licked his lips as he made eye contact with the other boy, who had a playful smile on his face. Instead of kissing Michael as he had planned to, he directed his mouth to the blonde’s neck and blew on his skin, causing Michael to whine. If Michael wanted some teasing, then that was what Ashton was going to give him. The older lad wrapped a hand around Michael’s neck and the other around his waist, pulling the blonde closer to him. Smiling, Michael enclosed his legs around Ashton’s hips and thrust against him. Ashton swiped his hands under Michael’s thigh, unwrapping the boy’s legs from around him, and parted them before moving away slightly. That action caused Michael to again whine and he reached out for Ashton, who slapped his hand away.

“Tell me you want me,” Ashton said, looking directly into Michael’s eyes.

“I want you,” Michael mumbled and tugged on his penis.

Biting on his lower lip seductively, Ashton stripped out of his underwear and gently stroked his erection. He leant closer to the younger boy and reached out for the bottle of lube that was behind him, biting Michael’s shoulder in the process. His mouth lingered on Michael’s skin, licking it, kissing it, nibbling on it. As he pulled away slightly to look at the other, Michael again wrapped his legs around Ashton waist, that time locking it behind his back and making it impossible for the older lad to move. He then wrapped his arms around Ashton’s neck and pressed their lips together, lightly kissing him. Shaking his head, Ashton tilted his head, giving Michael more access to his skin as the younger boy’s mouth trailed down to his chin and further down, to suck on his neck.

With half-opened eyes and clumsy hands, Ashton coated his erection thoroughly, giving himself a few good tugs before directing his penis to Michael’s hole. A gasp escaped the younger boy’s lips as Ashton pushed the head of his erection in and he closed his eyes while bucking his hips forward and onto the other boy’s cock, taking him in all the way. Ashton let out a series of curse words and pulled out before brusquely pushing back in. With each of Ashton’s forward thrusts, the table hit against the wall with a loud thud and they both laughed. The older boy shook his head negatively and immediately stopped the movements of his hips, looking directly into Michael green eyes; his usually pale eyes that was currently dark with desire.

“Calum’s right next door,” Ashton whispered breathlessly.

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Michael laughed and again rocked his hips against Ashton, causing another loud thud to resonate in the room.

Without saying anything else, Ashton swiped his hands under Michael and lifted him off the table, clumsily carrying him to the bed, without pulling out of him. Laying the younger boy on the mattress, Ashton settled on top of him and wasted no time to move in and out of him again. He snaked a hand between their bodies and wrapped his long fingers around Michael’s dick, roughly tugging on it. As the movement of his hips sped up, his hands moved faster around the younger boy’s erection and he again connected their lips, sharing yet another wet and hungry kiss. A loud moan escaped Michael’s mouth and he came onto Ashton’s hand and on their stomachs. As much as he wanted it to last, he could not help it, considering how Ashton was pleasuring him both ways.

Michael shifted and slid off the other boy’s penis, slowly pushing him backward and onto his back. He parted Ashton’s leg and settled between them, immediately pressed kiss to the head of the drummer’s erection. Pressing small kisses all the way down the length, he trailed his mouth lower and took Ashton’s balls into his mouth before leaving a wet trail up, to the head again. Licking his lips, he took the tip of the erection into his mouth before gradually sucking all of it. Ashton grabbed two fistful of Michael’s hair and pulled on them as he thrust into Michael’s mouth, slowly at first and faster with each passing second. The younger boy pulled away, rolled his tongue over the head a couple of time and sucked him in again. It did not take another second for Ashton to come undone and he spilt his load into Michael’s mouth with a gasp.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, after swallowing everything, Michael snuggled by Ashton’s side and kissed him again. “This weekend is going to be so fun.”

“Yeah,” Ashton laughed and squeezed Michael’s butt.

“I’m so up for a round two,” Michael grinned while tugging on Ashton’s dick.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum stretched his arms and leant against the cold kitchen counter as he waited for the kettle to go off. He lightly tapped his finger pads against his thigh, humming to some random tunes, and let out a happy sigh when his wait came to an end. After making himself a cup of tea and some toast, the brunette took a seat at the table and took a bite of his bread.

“Morning, buddy,” Ashton yawned as he opened the fridge. “Why are we out of milk?”

“Because your boyfriend had them all,” Calum said before laughing.

“I bet he did,” Ashton nodded and took a seat next to the other boy. “About Michael, can I ask you something?”

“What about him?”

“I dunno…” Ashton lifted his head and looked right at the other boy; thinking how to put things out but decided to go straight into it. “You don’t like him, do you?”

“Who? Michael?” Calum laughed. “Why would I like him? He’s your boyfriend.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. I meant you don’t like him being around.”

“He’s annoying,” Calum shrugged.

“I think there more than that,” the older boy sighed.

Calum lowered his eyes and looked at the bread that was on the plate. He did not want Ashton to be looking into his eyes when he was talking since the older lad could always see right through him and he hoped that Ashton would not see through his lies. “Did you forget all the things he said to us? Do you want me to start saying them? How could you forget?”

Okay, Calum was right about that but… “Everybody makes mistake,” Ashton said out loud.

“I’m pretty sure it was intentional.”

“Yeah, but you know that I was kinda at fault,” Ashton stated; finally after nine months, he was acknowledging his mistakes.

“Why are you dating him?”

“Because we like each other and enjoy being in each other’s company.”

“He’s a nudist,” Calum said as he grabbed Ashton’s shoulders and shook him repeatedly.

“No, he’s not,” the older boy laughed. “What a thought!”

“He’s shameless and annoying and argghh… so irritating,” Calum let out through gritted teeth.

Ashton could only laughed at that. He still quite did not get why Calum thought so about Michael; after all, it had been a while and Calum’s anger, or whatever it was he had against Michael, should have vanished. “He’s a nice guy if only you him a chance. Maybe try and get to know him.”

“I think he does it on purpose,” the brunette stated.

“I’ll say it’s your imagination.”

“I’m not surprise that you’re defending him,” Calum rolled his eyes.

“Will you at least try though?”

“Hmm…”

“Please, for me.”

“Ok,” Calum sighed, in defeat. “But I don’t promise anything.”

 


	3. Playing Nurse

Michael blew his nose in a tissue and groaned when he realised that he would have to get up to throw it in the bin, which rested in a corner on the other side of the room. He was sick, his head was pounding and felt too weak to move. Calum, who was standing by the door, smiled at the sight; Michael repeatedly looked back and forth from the tissue that was in his hand to the bin. Placing the cup that he had in his hand on the dresser that was by the door, Calum grabbed the bin and brought it to the bed, motioning for the other boy to throw away his tissue before placing the bin by the bed.

“There,” Calum said, with a smile. “You won’t need to get up at all.”

“Thank you,” Michael smiled.

“I brought you tea,” the brunette picked it from the dresser and handed it to the other boy. “Make sure you drink it all since you refused to finish your lunch.”

“I’ll have it later,” Michael mumbled, slouched further down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Calum sighed; even when Michael was sick, he could be pretty hard to deal with. “Fine. I hope it’ll be over when I come back later.”

“You’re so bossy.”

“And you’re so annoying,” Calum laughed.

“Well, at least you got a reason to be nice to me.”

“I’m always nice,” Calum huffed.

“Yeah, like hating on Michael and calling him annoying is nice.”

“I’m only going to ignore that because you’re not fine.”

“I think you secretly…”

“Nothing,” Calum said firmly. “I don’t secretly anything.”

“You don’t even make sense,” Michael laughed before sneezing loudly.

“Have your tea, you’ll feel better,” Calum stated, ignoring Michael’s last comment, and walked towards the door.

“Calum?”

“Hmm…”

“I need to pee,” Michael smiled sheepishly.

“Then go to pee.”

“I feel weak, take me to the bathroom.”

“Seriously?” Michael nodded and Calum groaned. “You’re taking advantage of the fact that you’re ill to make me do things for you.”

“I’ll never do that.”

Calum helped the older boy to his feet; although, Calum knew that Michael was overdoing that weakness thing. “Go, I’ll wait here.”

“What if I fall?”

“Then I’ll come in when I hear you fall on your ass with a loud thud,” Calum joked.

Michael rolled his eyes and walked in, immediately pushing his pants down and giving himself some relief. When he was done, he walked out the door, to see that Calum had indeed waited for him. They walked back to the room quietly and Calum settled Michael back on the bed before making sure he did not need anything else. Michael let out a happy sigh when the brunette closed the door behind him and pulled the blanket over his body as he again sneezed. As he allow the thoughts of a particular boy invade his mind, Michael let sleep wash over him.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum hummed to a happy tune as he poured the content of the pot into a bowl and placed it on a tray, along with a glass of freshly made juice. He took a spoon from the drawer and also placed it on the tray. Calum licked his lips and looked at the food that rested on the counter; the more he wanted to stay away from Michael, the more he found himself around the other male. Michael, the annoyingly irritating boy that he had a crush on since that very first day that they had met. He still remembered the smile he had on, Calum could not see his face at first, considering Michael was standing right in the sun but he remembered that smile that was as bright as the sun the shone on half his face. In Calum’s opinion, it was a perfect moment to meet someone special. Special, that was a big word to use for someone you meet for the first time but that was exactly how he had felt and to be honest, Calum had felt something tingling inside of him.

The brunette laughed; he still felt that fluttering feeling deep down whenever Michael was around and he guessed that was what reeled those anger inside of him; it was the reason he felt so out of control when the older boy was around. He only did it because he was scared that if he got too friendly with Michael, he might let out things that were meant to be buried within. At first he had thought that it was just an attraction because Michael was a good looking lad and it was going to dissipate in a day or two but after one and a half week, he still could not forget about Michael. Even if at that time he had wanted to do something about it, he did not, not after how things were going between Ashton and Michael, he just did not stand a chance; so, he brushed it off as a stupid crush. When Calum had finally realised that it was not just an attraction or a stupid crush, but something else, Ashton had suddenly announced that he and Michael were dating.

His feelings were his and his only to know. According to him, his anger towards the other boy was justified. To Calum, it was only a way to distance himself from Michael but sometimes, he really did get irritated with Michael; especially the fact that Michael was constantly staying over, looking at him in ways that would not be appropriate, teasing him and annoying him. Calum groaned and brushed that thought aside; he did not want to think about how annoying Michael was, not when Ashton had nicely requested him to look over his sick boyfriend while he finished some important work. At least, he was happy about the fact that Michael had not been his annoying self; okay, so he was being a bit of a baby but not annoying. Calum laughed; Michael was the only one who could make him feel a rush of different emotions, all at once.

Slapping his hand against his forehead, Calum looked at the food that was in front of him; yikes, he was so lost in his thoughts that he had completely forgotten about that. After making sure he had everything properly set on the tray, Calum grabbed it before carrying everything to Ashton’s room. Pushing the door open with his back, Calum strolled into the room and placed the tray on the nightstand while Michael had his eyes on the brunette the whole time. Soup, again soup; Michael groaned inwardly. He has been sick for three days and been staying at his boyfriend’s and all he was fed was soup, soup and more soup. That was it; he would rather go to bed with an empty stomach than have soup again.

“Hey, I got you dinner,” Calum cleared his throat and looked at the boy, who was staring at the tray.

“I’m not hungry,” Michael mumbled and turned away.

“But you haven’t had anything since the morning.”

Michael groaned when Calum took the bowl in his hand and moved to the bed. he could still remember how he wanted to throw up that morning when he saw a piece of carrot floating in the soup and the rest of the vegetables, Michael scrunched his nose; there was no way he was eating that again. “I don’t want soup. It makes me even more sick than I already am.”

“I knew you wouldn’t want soup, that’s why I made you a broth,” Calum smiled and pushed the bowl in Michael’s direction. When the older lad refused to take it, Calum sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Looks the same to me.”

“No, this is much lighter,” Calum smiled.

“Still not hungry.”

If Calum had been patient and kept his calm all day, by that point he was definitely frustrated. He was told to look after Michael; if Michael wanted to be a bitch and not let him, then fine, Calum was going to do things his way. Calum took a deep breath and grabbed the bowl from the nightstand before facing the older boy. “Open your mouth,” he ordered as he brought the spoon to Michael’s mouth.

Shaking his head, Michael turned away.

“Please?” Calum asked politely and Michael again turned to him, slowly opening his mouth. It was not so hard after all; all he had to do was to be polite.

To Michael, the broth was not any better than the soup but at that moment he was not going to complain. First, he was starving and second, who was going to refuse when someone was feeding you so nicely. “Thank you,” Michael said with a smile, once he was done.

“Now, it’s time for your medicines,” the brunette said and placed everything back on the tray before handing Michael the capsules. “Have this, I’m gonna… umm… go eat.”

“You didn’t eat yet?”

Without saying anything else Calum gathered everything and all the while, Michael kept his eyes on him, studying his every actions; from the way he walked, to how he sucked on his lower lip as he adjusted Michael’s blanket and how he scratched his arms before gathering the tray and walking out the door. Michael hummed and closed his eyes.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum rinsed a last plate and wiped his hands in a towel before dropping himself in a chair at the round dining table. It had been a hectic day and he was tired. Michael was Ashton’s boyfriend and instead of Ashton, it was Calum who had to look after him. He knew that if it was the other way around, he would have stayed next to the boy until he was better but it was not the case. Calum toyed with the hem of the towel, twirling a stranded thread around his finger as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his free hand. He was tired and his eyes were threatening to close. Taking a deep breath, Calum unwillingly got to his feet and dragged himself to Ashton’s room, to sure Michael did not need anything else before he could go and get some much deserved sleep.

Calum pushed the door open and quietly walked to the bed, to the boy who snoring lightly. With a smile on his face, he leant forward and ran his finger through Michael’s blonde hair, causing the boy to hum appreciatively as a smile appeared on his face. He shook his head and pulled his hand away; what was he doing? ‘Keep his distance’, that was what he should do, not get closer. Nevertheless, the brunette just stood there watching Michael sleep; the way his chest would rise and fall as he breathed, he looked so peaceful, almost like an angel. That thought made Calum let out a happy sigh and he restrained himself from again reaching out, to graze the older boy’s cheek. ‘Get a grip of yourself, man.’ Calum kept repeating in his head. When his eyes landed on the digital clock that rested on the nightstand, Calum let out a sigh; it was past ten and he should probably get to bed too.

As he let his eyes fall on Michael one last time, Calum reached for the blanket and pulled it up the older boy’s chest. Before he had the chance to pull his hand away, Michael wrapped his own around it and hugged it tight to his chest as he turned to the other side. Calum managed to catch himself when Michael pulled on his hand and he knelt on the mattress behind the other boy. Very gently, with the help of his other hand, the brunette tried to loosen the grip Michael had on his hand but somehow, even when he was fast asleep, Michael’s hold was quite firm. After lots of mumbling, sighing, huffing, Calum finally freed his hand and let out a big sigh of relief. He pushed a strand of hair that was disturbing the other boy and whispered a ‘goodnight Michael’ before exiting the room.

The moment the door closed behind Calum, Michael opened his eyes and smiled.

 


	4. Pet Me

Ashton pulled out of the younger boy and dropped himself on the bed beside him, a lazy grin on his face. Michael allowed himself to be pulled into Ashton’s embrace and lay his head on the other boy’s shoulder, still panting heavily. Pressing a kiss to the side of Ashton’s neck, Michael shifted closer and swung a leg over the older boy’s naked hips. Ashton moaned when Michael’s calf made contact with his penis and he enclosed his free hand around Michael’s waist, crashing the younger boy’s hips against his side. Gently, Ashton rubbed his side against Michael’s penis and chuckled when the younger boy moaned in contentment.

“Ash, stop doing that. You’re gonna make me hard again,” Michael complained on a whiny tone but still rubbed himself against Ashton’s soft skin.

“I’m not doing anything. I’m just helping you enjoy your afterglow,” Ashton stated with a smile and turned to lie on his side, facing Michael.

The two boys stared into each other’s eyes and let themselves be drown in there, enjoying the sudden silence that had settled between them; it was one of the things that they enjoyed doing, letting the silence speak for them while they got lost in each other. A small smile appeared on Ashton’s lips and he leant forward, his lips gently grazing Michael’s pink ones. Michael’s eyes fluttered closed and he took Ashton’s lips into his, sucking his lower lip between his teeth in a slow motion.

“Do you really have to go tomorrow?” Michael asked against the boy’s lips.

“Yeah,” Ashton replied apologetically. “It’s just for a few days, it’ll fly by easily.”

“Alright,” Michael sighed.

“What shall we do today?” Ashton whispered and traced Michael’s lips with his tongue.

“How about I get us breakfast?” Michael wriggled his eyebrows and laughed when he heard a grumble in Ashton’s stomach.

Pressing a kiss to Michael’s forehead, Ashton nodded and moved into a sitting position. “Yeah, I’ll help you.”

“Nuh-huh,” Michael shook his head and pushed Ashton backward. “You stay here, Mister. I’ll serve you today.”

“Oookaayy…” Ashton smiled and ran his fingers across Michael’s cheek before pulling him down and pecking his lips.

“Be right back,” the younger boy got to his feet and pulled on his boxers, smiling at a sleepy Ashton. “Don’t sleep on me.”

“Hurry up, I’m missing you already,” Ashton laughed as he watched Michael walked out of the room.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum whistled to the tune of a song that he had heard on the radio, earlier that day, as he exited the bathroom and rubbed his wet hair with a towel. He dropped himself on the couch and set the damp towel in his lap, looking around the living room and wondering what he could do alone. His housemate, also known as his childhood friend, also known as Ashton, was away for a few days and Calum was already lacking things to do. He patted his stomach when he heard it grumble; he had not realised he was that hungry but that could be dealt with. He had ordered a pizza and it should be there anytime. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

“What are you doing here?” Calum asked when he saw Michael standing on the other side of the door, a duffel bag on his left shoulder.

“Where’s my sweetheart?” Michael walked past Calum and into the apartment.

“Ashton’s not here,” Calum closed the door and followed Michael inside.

“I’ll wait for him.”

“He won’t be here before another six days. Didn’t he tell you?”

“He really is not here? I thought he was joking and wanted to surprise me for my birthday,” Michael frowned.

“Apparently he was not. So… bye. Come back when he’s back.”

“What’s your problem with me?” the boy, who used to be blonde a few days ago but currently had jet black hair, asked.

Calum blinked at him. What was his problem anyway? Calum’s problem was the way Michael looked at him and Michael was so irritating all the time.

Michael snapped his fingers in front of Calum’s face. “Where are you lost?”

“I… huh…” Calum looked away when he realised Michael was standing in front of him, so close to him that he was invading his personal space. “I don’t have any problems… it’s just that I had other plans for tonight."

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Michael smiled a wide toothy smile. “I’ll be in Ashton’s room. I won’t disturb you. Just carry on.”

On that, Michael waved at him and walked in the direction of Ashton’s bedroom. Calum groaned inwardly as he picked up his towel. How was he going to handle being in a house alone with Michael? Peeking in the corridor, he let out a sigh when he realised the door to Ashton’s room was closed. Things were going to be much easier if Michael stayed away. He jolted when he heard another knock on the door; his pizza was here. As soon as he accepted the delivery, he rushed to his room and locked the door behind him.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum mumbled to himself while he opened his front door. That morning, when he had woken up, he had thought Michael would have been gone but he had found the other boy, in his kitchen, in only his boxers, actively making breakfast for the two of them. Calum’s great escape plan was to go out. It was slightly past 8pm when he got back home. His apartment was plunged into darkness and that could only mean one thing: Michael was gone. Calum yawned and stretched his arms over his head as he walked to his bedroom but he stopped abruptly and his mouth dropped open when he turned on the lights. There, on his bed, was Michael. Michael was lying on his side with his head propped on an arm, a bright smile playing on his lips.

“What are you doing in my room?”

“Waiting for you. Come here,” Michael patted the mattress next to him, motioning for Calum to join him.

Calum raised an eyebrow as he took small steps towards the bed, unsure about what was going on. He did not fail to notice that Michael was shirtless and was only wearing some tiny black shorts. He also had black gloves and black socks on, which was weird considering summer was approaching. Slowly, Calum sat on the edge of the bed, as far away from Michael as he could, and stared at his feet. He shivered when a soft fluffy thing caressed his arm and immediately turned his eyes to the object. It turned out that they were not gloves and socks that Michael was wearing but fluffy paws. That was when Calum saw the black pointy ears on top of Michael’s head and the equally black tail hanging from the back of his shorts. Calum frowned; what the hell was going on?

“Why the fuck are you dressed up like this? Is it Halloween?”

“No silly, it’s my birthday,” Michael laughed.

“So?” Calum asked, not seeing the logic in that.

“I’m a kitty. Pet me.”

“What?” Calum looked at the other boy with wide eyes.

“Pet me… I’m a cute little kitten,” Michael mewled.

“Are you drunk? Are you high? Did you smoke something?” the frown never left Calum’s features as he questioned Michael.

“No…” Michael got on all fours and inched closer to Calum in a cat-like manner before rubbing his head against Calum’s shoulder, purring at the same time.

“Michael, stop. You’re Ashton’s boyfriend. My best friend’s boyfriend,” Calum closed his eyes, ignoring what was happening.

Michael pulled back but instead of moving away like Calum thought he would, he pulled Calum higher up on the mattress. Swinging a leg over the other boy, Michael straddled his stomach and leant forward, hovering above him. “I know…”

“Get off me.”

“I’ve seen the way you look at me,” Michael whispered as he ran his fluffy paw across Calum’s cheek.

“What? Are you crazy?”

“I’m not stupid. I’ve noticed the way you’ve always looked at me.”

“You’re clearly seeing things. Go away. Get off me and leave me alone. I don’t look at you in any way that you think I do.”

“Yeah?”

Michel leant forward and pressed a kiss to Calum’s chin before licking all the way along his jawline to his earlobe. He then moved lower and began leaving a series of little kitten licks on the side of the other boy’s neck. Hooking a finger in the collar of Calum’s t-shirt, Michael pushed it aside and moved his mouth and tongue to Calum’s collarbone. He licked and sucked on the skin as if he was eating a candy. Slowly, he crawled down Calum’s body and pushing his shirt up, he licked Calum’s stomach, just above the elastic of his boxers. Calum closed his eyes, bit the inner side of his cheeks and pretended nothing was happening. Next, Michael licked up to Calum’s belly button, leaving a wet trail behind, before dipping his tongue into the hole.

Lifting his eyes to look at Calum, Michael frowned; Calum had his eyes closed and it looked like he was fighting the situation. With a smile on his lips, he slid even lower and undid Calum’s jeans. Without wasting time, he slipped his hand inside Calum’s underwear, caressing him. Calum parted his lips and let out a gasp when Michael touched his penis with his fluffy paw. He squeezed his eyes shut; why was Michael doing that to him? The feel of Michael’s soft hand on his penis and Michael’s tongue on the skin of his stomach, they were too much for Calum to deal with at the same time but he reminded himself that Michael was Ashton’s boyfriend and what was happening was wrong.

“Fuck it,” Calum mumbled.

He grabbed a handful of Michael’s dark locks and pulled him up, crashing their mouth together. Michael smiled as Calum’s lips moved against his before kissing Calum back. Calum’s lips were soft and wet and they were better than whatever he had imagined they would be. Their mouths moved impatiently together while Michael’s hand moved up and down Calum’s side and his hips moved against Calum’s hips. Calum buried one of his hands into Michael’s hair and wrapped the other around Michael’s waist but it slowly moved lower to the swell of Michael’s ass. Pulling away, Michael got off the bed, leaving Calum to frown. If Michael wanted him, why did he pull away? Had he only been messing with Calum? Calum felt stupid for giving in so easily.

Michael bit his lips as he took small backward steps until his back hit against the desk. After picking something from the table, he again advanced towards the bed, biting the side of his bottom lip and swaying his hips from side to side. Once he reached the bed, he again got on all fours on the mattress and seductively moved to Calum, who was leaning against the headboard. Taking hold of the hem of Calum’s t-shirt, Michael pulled it over his head and tossed it on the floor. His jeans and boxers followed the same fate and Michael was glad that the other boy had gotten rid of his shoes and socks when he had gone to get the lube and condom from the table. He threw his left leg over Calum’s and straddled his thighs before wrapping his arms around Calum’s neck. As soon as the other boy settled in his lap, Calum reached for his shorts to pull it off but Michael shook his head negatively.

“No, everything stays on. I’m a kitty, remember? Pet me now. Meow.”

“Ok,” Calum mumbled; if only he had not been in that position, he definitely would have found the situation funny. But then he frowned. “If you don’t wanna get the shorts off, how are we gonna…”

“Hang on.”

Michael took Calum’s hand into his and then brought it to his mouth, pressing a few kisses to his knuckles. Locking eyes with Calum, he took his middle finger into his mouth and rolled his tongue around it. He sucked on the finger then coated it with saliva before moving to another finger. Michael pulled them out of his mouth and guided them behind him. That was when Calum realised that right beneath the long fluffy black tail, there was a hole. Michael let out a gasp as he pushed Calum’s fingers into his hole, both his middle finger and index at the same time. He moved Calum’s fingers in and out of his hole while Calum’s other hand moved up and down Michael’s back and his mouth pressed small kisses to his neck. After a few minutes, Calum’s fingers were moving on their own accord and Michael let go of his hand to press his palm flat against the wall to support himself as he moved on Calum’s digits. Calum bit his lower lip and looked at Michael’s face as he scissored his fingers.

“I think... that’s enough. Do it already,” Michael whispered.

“How do you…”

Michael handed the condom and lube to Calum and got on his knees before bending in front of him and looking at him over his shoulder. Calum swore under his breath and quickly tore open the condom, rolling it onto his penis before coating it with lube. He got on his knees behind Michael and guided his penis to Michael’s hole. The moment he pushed the head inside, Michael moaned loudly before purring. Calum held the tail in one hand and pushed it out of the way while he placed his other hand on Michael’s hip as he pushed his penis completely into Michael and pulled it nearly all the way out before pushing back in again. He repeated the action and closed his eyes, biting his lips when Michael squeezed his muscles around him.

Michael did not know whether Calum was a natural or just really good at it but with each of his forward thrusts, the other boy was hitting his prostate. His arms felt weak and could no longer support him, causing him to fall forward on the mattress. Instead, Michael leant on his elbows and rested his forehead against the blue sheet. He slipped a hand into his shorts and freed his erection from its confinement. Immediately, he wrapped his fingers around it and moved his fist along his length, purring at the same time. Having the soft paw around his penis was a different feeling but it was good in a way that Michael himself did not expect. It turned out the paws had more benefits than Michael had thought they would.

Calum sped up the movements of his hips and Michael tried to match his forward thrusts with one of his own while his hand kept moving around his penis. He arched his back and spilt his load on the sheet, careful not to get any on his paws. As soon as he caught his breath, he pulled away and pushed Calum on his back. Michael climbed on top of the other boy and getting rid of the condom, he took Calum’s penis into his mouth, sucking on it powerfully. Calum squeezed his eyes shut; the sight of his penis going in and out of Michael’s mouth was too much to see. Swearing, Calum came into Michael’s mouth. Michael took Calum’s penis out of his mouth and licked the cum that was dripping out of the corner of his mouth before pressing a kiss to Calum’s mouth and settling on the bed next to him.

“Wow,” Calum panted when Michael wrapped an arm around his waist; he could not believe he had sex with Michael.

“Yeah…” Michael laughed.

“I can’t believe you made us do it while wearing those stupid things.”

“Hey,” Michael lifted his head to look at Calum and slapped him on the stomach. “Don’t say that, I’m a kitty. Meow.”

Calum laughed. “Yeah, you were taking that part pretty seriously.”

“That’s cause I’m a kitty.”

“No, you’re not.”

Michael made a face. “I knew you wanted me.”

“What? No, I did not.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the way you look at me when I’m with Ashton. Ashton may be ignorant but I’m not stupid.”

‘Damn!’ Calum groan mentally; he did have a crush on Michael but Ashton liked him and he was not going to get in between. His friendship with Ashton was more important than whatever he felt for Michael.

“I seriously don’t know what you’re saying. Anyways, it was great.”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t know you were the kinky type.”

“Kinky? You like kinky? Damn, you have seen nothing. Wait until you meet Luke.”

“Luke? Who’s Luke?”

“A friend of mine.”

“A friend?” Calum raised an eyebrow. “Why do I have the impression that he’s not just a friend?”

“Yeah, he’s just a friend,” Michael sighed. “Next time is gonna be better, I promise.”

“Next time?”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “Thank you. I had a great time. Best birthday present ever.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Michael leant forward and pressed his lips to Calum just when there was a knock on the Calum’s door. The two of them pulled away and stared at the door.

“Cal? Are you sleeping?”

“Ashton?” Michael frowned. “What is he doing here? He told me he’d be back on Wednesday.”

“Shhh… You’re gonna get us in trouble,” Calum whispered while quickly pressing his palm to Michael’s mouth. He then turned to the door again. “No, not really. How come you’re back early?”

“I went to meet Michael but he’s not home.”

“Shit! Where are your stuffs?” Calum asked as he quickly looked at Michael, who motioned to his bag on the floor.

“Cal? Are you busy?”

“Yeah, kinda… Can I talk to you in the morning?”

“Alright, goodnight.”

“Yeah goodnight.”

“Thank god I went to close the door,” Michael sighed in relief.

“When did you?” Calum questioned, he was sure he did not see Michael do that.

“When I went to get the condom from your desk and you were removing your shoes.”

“Ok,” Calum nodded then something crossed his mind. “What did you mean when you said Ashton would be back on Wednesday? I thought you didn’t know he was not home.”

Michael smiled sheepishly. “I kinda knew…”

“What? Then why?”

“Pff… do you have to ask so many questions? I did it because I know you like me and I wanted to. And you can’t refuse me anything, at least not today.”

“Shut up, you should probably leave.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Calum closed his eyes and answered.

“Alright, as you wish. Let’s see what Ashton thinks.” On that Michael got off the bed and walked towards the door in his kitty outfit, leaving Calum to stare at his back.

 


	5. To Tell Or Not To Tell

“Alright, as you wish. Let’s see what Ashton thinks.” On that Michael got off the bed and walked towards the door in his kitty outfit, leaving Calum to stare at his back.

“Wait!” Calum sighed; there it was happening, Michael was messing with his head again. Ashton was right outside the door and Calum would never wish for Ashton to know what had happened between his best friend and boyfriend that night. He did not want to think what the older boy would think about it and he was certain Michael knew it. He knew how much Ashton meant to Calum and knew very well Calum would not want to hurt his best friend in any way; little sucker. Calum got up from the bed and walked to Michael. “You can stay.”

“I knew you wanted me to stay,” Michael smirked and pressed his lips to the corner of the brunette’s mouth.

“Well, you leave me with no choice,” Calum said and moved away from the boy. “And I didn’t do it for you, I did it for Ashton.”

“Aww, you really hurt my feelings sometimes,” Michael mumbled and made a sulky face as he walk to where Calum had settled back on the bed.

“Yeah, and sometimes I can’t understand you at all,” Calum stated. “I thought you liked Ashton.”

“When did I say I don’t?” Michael asked with a smile.

“Then what are you doing here, with me? Why did you sleep with me?” Calum asked, the frown never leaving his features.

“Because that’s what you want,” Michael grinned. “I know you secretly like me. You do, don’t you?”

Laughing, Calum shook his head. “I like you,” Calum repeated, laughing even harder; somehow, his laugh was helping him hide the things that he was feeling inside. How could Michael say that Calum liked him, not to mention that he seemed pretty confident? He had made sure not be obvious, like ever and he was sure he was on the right track because of the way he acted with Michael; seeing how he always bitched at Michael, he was certain no one would ever guess what he was hiding behind them. That situation was not looking so good at all and Calum had to turn it to his advantage, which was what he was doing; it was time to see how good his acting skills were.

“Why else would you sleep with me?” the older boy wriggled his eyebrows.

“Umm… because…” Calum bit on his lower lip and look down at his hands that rested in his lap.

“Ha, caught you,” Michael laughed and wrapped his arms around the brunette’s waist, to pull him closer.

“Alright…” Calum sighed and pushed Michael’s hand away. “You really wanna know why I did it? Why I slept with you even though you’re my best friend’s boyfriend?”

“Yes, the answer is pretty obvious but I want to hear you say it,” Michael smiled and again wrapped his arms around Calum, ignoring the other boy’s groan of protest.

“I did it because I wanted you to leave me alone, something that you would not have done if I had not given in to you. I only wanted you off my back, that’s all. Nothing else; especially not what you’re thinking. Why did you really sleep with me? And don’t give me that bullshit that I wanted you, tell me the real reason.”

“I wanted to,” Michael shrugged.

“Why? Don’t tell me you don’t get enough sex with Ashton. If I recall proper, you guys fuck each other every time you’re here. That’s all you ever do.”

“That’s not true.”

“Or so you keep telling yourself.”

“With that attitude of yours, I’m on the verge of leaving this room.”

“Your words don’t scare me. I know you don’t intend to leave.”

Rolling his eyes, Michael winked at Calum as he got off the bed and walked to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“You said you only slept with me because you wanted me off your back. Well, I’m getting off your back and going back to the place where I belong, where I deserve to be, to my boyfriend.”

Calum’s eyes widened when Michael unlocked the door and opened it slightly and he quickly rushed to the older boy, pressing his hand on the door and closing it again. “What do you want from me, Michael?”

Michael smiled and pressed Calum to the door before pressing his lips to his. He smiled when Calum kissed him back and only pulled away when the younger boy did so; Calum did not like him, huh? Taking a few steps away from Calum, who was still naked, Michael laughed and shook his head.

“What are you laughing at?” Calum frowned.

“Who’s the nudist now?” Michael again laughed.

“What? I’ve never called…” Calum made a face; Ashton, he must have told Michael.

“I’m kidding,” Michael chuckled. “So, are you ready to tell me? Or you know, Ashton is right next door.”

“What do you wanna know?” Calum sighed.

“The truth,” Michael smiled. “I know you like me, you don’t have to lie to me. I mean it’s totally okay if you don’t want Ashton to know. He’s your best friend but you could tell me. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You like me since day one. The day I…”

“Accidentally spilt your coke on Ashton’s shirt,” Calum laughed as he recalled that incident; so many things happened that day. They had met Michael for the first time, Ashton and Michael had a fight, Calum could not help but look at the gorgeous boy he had met, he could not get Michael’s smile out of his head, he had the biggest crush on Michael but yeah, things did not quite turn out in his favour.

“Yeah, that same day,” Michael smiled as he thought about it as well. “You could not take your eye off me. Ashton kept shouting and you were standing there, quiet. I’ve seen the way you look at me even after knowing that Ashton and I are dating.”

“Wow, did you rehearse those lines?” Calum asked with a little laugh.

“No, but they are true. No lies.”

“Right, no lies,” Calum sighed and he guessed that was the part where he should tell the truth. Taking a deep breath, Calum walked to the bed and sat on the edge before speaking again. “I do like you.”

“I know,” Michael said in almost a whisper and took a seat beside the other boy. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Well, you’re Ashton’s boyfriend, did you forget?”

“No, I mean before that.”

Calum frowned; Michael knew all along? That was great. Calum felt so stupid; stupid for giving in to Michael. What had he been thinking, sleeping with Michael? It was most probable the older boy was only messing around with him and in the end, he would not be the only one to get hurt, Ashton would too. And what did he think he was doing, telling Michael about his feelings? It was not like Michael was going to jump in his arms and proclaim his love back. Love? Did Calum love Michael? With everything that had happened that night, Calum was not sure he was even thinking straight. He knew he liked Michael but love? Calum again shook his head; it was already too much to have Michael around in his and Ashton’s apartment most of the time but it was really hard having him that close. It honestly kept all rational thoughts out of Calum’s head.

“Oh, if you were so smart to know that I like you, why did you have to wait until now to say it? Why? Are you trying to fuck with my head again? You’re a jerk, Michael. I can’t believe I gave in to you,” Calum said angrily. “I don’t know what you’re playing at but you better stop it.”

“Boy, I don’t know what got into you all of a sudden but if you don’t keep that voice low, it’s definitely going to attract unnecessary attention and by that, I mean Ashton,” Michael stated.

Michael turned to the side to look at the other boy, who was angrily staring at the carpet and sighed; sometime he really did not understand Calum. All he wanted was for Calum to admit his feelings for him, he had been dying to hear it. Yes, Michael Clifford had a soft spot for Calum and just like Calum, he was pretty good at hiding his feelings; although at time he would say that he was better and actually felt proud about it, since he could tell about Calum’s feelings but no one could have guessed his secret. What was Calum blaming him about though? He was sure as hell he did not do anything wrong; okay, maybe the method he used was not the best but at that time, it seemed like the right thing to do. He wanted Calum and he knew Calum wanted him back; what was wrong with that?

“Why are you so mad anyway?”

“Because of you. You always tend to annoy the shit out of me,” Calum muttered. “Why?”

“Maybe because I like you back,” Michael said with a smile.

“Yeah, and that gives you the… what?” Calum asked when he realised what Michael had said. “What did you say?”

“I said I like you back,” Michael repeated.

Calum shook his head and continuously tapped his fingers against his cheeks. “Wake up, Calum,” he repeatedly told himself.

Michael could only laugh at the sight; he probably would not have believed it either. “Hey,” he said and pulled Calum into his lap, in a straddling position. “Open your eyes.”

When Calum opened his eyes, he realised how close he was to Michael and he slowly breathed in and out through his nose; the older boy looked beautiful from that angle. That had to be a dream because it was too beautiful to be true. He could not believe that that very morning his biggest wish was that Michael would leave but at that specific moment he wished otherwise. Michael liked him back, Calum smiled and let his lips grazed Michael’s. Also smiling, Michael wrapped his arms around Calum’s waist and fully kissed him. Their lips were slowly moving against one another and to Calum, that moment was simply perfect, a moment he would want to cherish for as long as he could. Finally, after for what seemed like long minutes, they pulled away and stared into each other’s eyes.

“Umm… Michael?”

“Hmm…” Michael hummed and pressed their foreheads together.

“If you like me, why… umm…”

“Why am I dating Ashton?” Michael completed for him and Calum nodded. “It’s a long story.”

“I wanna know, no lies.”

“To be honest, I started liking you since day one. When I came to you for help but then there was the fight with Ashton and you, you never said anything. I wanted to get to know you but somehow, you kept your distances but I swore I could tell your eyes said differently. I knew you liked me back. I don’t know, after a while I thought I was wrong, then I changed my classes, I had same with Ashton. Something clicked and we became friends. I thought I had a chance, you know being friend with Ashton meant I could get closer to you. Then Ashton and I got closer, intimate and we started dating.”

“And you kicked Calum out of the picture,” Calum mumbled with a smile.

“Never,” Michael shook his head. “Even if I was with Ashton, I never stopped trying but you were always a jerk to me.”

“Hey!”

“What, it’s true.”

“You are using Ashton, then?”

“No, I would never do that. Ashton is an amazing person, truly.”

“But you don’t like him?”

“Not the way that I like you.”

There it was, an awkward silence had settled between them, the moment Ashton was mentioned. They both knew whatever they wanted would end up hurting the older boy and neither of them wanted that.

“I’ve an idea,” Michael said after long minutes, breaking the silence.

“You know, I don’t like that look on your face. It has trouble written all over it.”

“Just hear me out,” Michael whined when Calum moved away to settle under the blanket. “You want me right?”

“No,” Calum joked and laughed at Michael’s sulky expression. “Fine, what is it?”

“I have a plan. One where everyone will be happy.”

“Okay, tell me about it.”

“I want a kiss first,” Michael smiled and Calum leant in to press their lips together.

“Are you gonna tell me now?”

“Only if you’re gonna let me stay the night. I’m kinda shleepy shleepy.”

“I already told you to stay before,” Calum stated.

“Yeah, that was before and you said it because you had no choice. Now you have to say it because you want me to stay.”

“You really are the biggest pain in the ass,” Calum laughed. “Michael, do you want to spend this beautiful night with me?”

“I would love to,” Michael grinned.

“You’re impossible. Tell me now.”

 


	6. No, No And No

“Michael, no,” Calum said firmly while shaking his head. “No matter what you do or say, I’m not going to change my mind.”

“But… please…” Michael whined.

“I can’t do that, it’s inacceptable. Do you even hear yourself?”

“Come on, it’s not as bad as you’re making it sound,” Michael argued.

“You want us to set Ashton up with someone else, so that he would break up with you and we could be together? How is that not bad?” Calum frowned and looked in the direction of Ashton’s room, to make sure that other boy was nowhere in sight.

“Kind of and it’s not bad. That way everybody would be happy.”

“The whole concept is wrong, the idea is gonna flop.”

“It’s not, trust me. I’ve got the right man for this job.”

“A job? So now Ashton’s a job? I thought everybody was gonna be happy in the end.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Michael sighed again. “And we will all be happy if at least you let me try.”

“No, I’m sorry but I can’t agree to this. And I can’t bring a random guy into Ashton’s life, just so I could be with you.”

“He’s not a random guy and I know him. But come on, come on, come on, come on.”

“Why do you always have to be so annoying?” Calum sighed. “Such a pain in my ass.”

“What’s new with that?” Ashton laughed and the other two boys flinched at the older boy’s voice. “Isn’t he always?”

“You’re right,” Calum nodded and shifted to the armchair that was opposite the couch he and Michael were sitting on.

“Mornin’ Love,” Ashton whispered.

He smiled and dropped himself next to Michael, almost sitting in his lap, before pressing a kiss to his lips; an action that made Calum look away instantly. It was already hard to have Michael and Ashton all over each other all the time but now that he had already told Michael how he felt and after getting a taste of how life could be with Michael, it was torture for Calum. That was not all, he knew Michael also felt the same way about him and it made everything double times worse. What troubled him the most was that he wanted to be the one kissing Michael, something he should not want because Ashton was not only Michael’s boyfriend but also his best friend, someone he had known since forever. Michael hummed against Ashton’s lips and averted his eyes to look at Calum, who was looking at his hands that rested in his lap. He did not fail to notice the hurt and disappointment in the brunette’s eyes; if only Calum had agreed with him, things would have been so much simpler.

“Stopppp…” Michael laughed as he pulled away when Ashton directed his kisses to his neck. “Don’t know what people must be thinking of me, every time I leave from here I’ve loads of hickeys on my neck. Besides, this is Calum’s sacred couch, remember?” he said, laughing even harder.

“Point noted,” Ashton laughed along.

Calum scoffed. “I never said it was sacred. It’s just my favourite couch.”

“Whatever you say, Honey,” Michael smiled and winked at Calum, after making sure Ashton was not looking.

“You’re down the wrong alley cause your honey is right beside you. I’m just you’re boyfriend’s best friend,” Calum grinned when Michael made a face. “Right, Ash?”

“I’m not getting in between your fights,” Ashton stated while shaking his head.

“You’re right, you’re no honey because all you ever do is fight with me,” Michael shrugged.

“Maybe if you were nicer I wouldn’t need to fight with you,” Calum retorted.

“Seriously guys, it’s about time you two stop and give each other a chance. Two hours, I give you two hours to sort things out and stop doing whatever you guys do whenever you are in the same room. I’m going out and when I come back, I want you two to be talking, like normal people do. Try not to kill each other in my absence.”

“I’ll try not to,” Michael laughed when Ashton grabbed his keys.

“You happy now?” Calum glared at Michael as Ashton opened the door and again closed it behind him.

Getting up, Michael dropped himself in Calum’s lap and wrapped his arms around his neck before pressing a kiss to the side of his face.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Calum raised an eyebrow.

“Doing what Ashton wants and giving each other a chance,” Michael smiled playfully.

“That’s not what he meant. He…”

“Shh… stop talking, we only have two hours.”

“Fine, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll spent the next two hours the way you want but you have to promise me not to talk about that ‘thing’,” Calum said, emphasising on the word ‘thing’.

“Ok, done.”

Calum smiled when his lips connected with Michael’s and the other boy let out a happy sigh. It was a slow kiss, where neither of them were in a rush to take things further because they were happy just being together, even if it was only momentarily. Calum wrapped his arms around Michael’s waist, holding him tight, and deepened the kiss. Slowly, he took the other boy’s bottom lip between his teeth and sucked it into his mouth, causing Michael to let out a little whimper. Pulling away from the kiss for a few seconds, Michael shifted and straddled the other boy’s thighs, bringing their bodies closer before kissing him again. He then licked Calum’s lips and when the younger boy opened his mouth, Michael pushed his tongue inside. A gasp escaped Michael’s lips when Calum did the same and licked the inner side of his cheek before pressing tongues together. He groaned against Calum’s tongue and he instinctively rocked his hips ever so slightly, needing more of what Calum was giving him.

**2 Hours Late** **r**

Ashton slowly opened the door and peeked inside; it was quiet inside, too quiet. He concluded it could either be: Michael was in his room and Calum in his, or one of them had left the apartment, or they had finally sorted things between them. However, he shook his head at the last option. That simply was not possible; what had not happened in the past eight months, could not have happened in two hours. Walking further into the living room, Ashton spotted Calum, who was lying down on his favourite chevron couch, with his eyes closed, and obviously did not realise Ashton was back.

“Michael, hurry up,” Calum called, without opening his eyes.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Michael called from the kitchen and Ashton leant against the wall as he studied the situation. He appeared, with his brightest smile and two cups in his hands. “Ashton? When did you get back?”

Calum immediately sat and eyed the older boy, wondering when he came. “How did I not hear you?”

“I can be as quiet as a mouse when I want to,” Ashton grinned.

“How sad you are not when you’re having sex with your boyfriend,” Calum remarked.

“Anyways, I see you two are finally giving each other a chance.”

“Yeah,” Michael smiled. “We’re still working on that.”

Calum shook his head at the statement but did not say anything; he knew that was not what Michael was talking about.

“But I can see some progress,” Ashton pointed to the cups.

“Yeah, your coffee.”

“Thanks,” Calum nodded and brought the cup to his lips. “Hmm, you make nice coffee. I wonder why you don’t do that more often.”

“Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment. Ash, would you like some as well?”

“I’ll help myself.”

“No, you sit, I’ll get it. You must be tired,” Michael smiled.

“I was actually going to my room. I have to check some emails.”

“I’ll get it there.” Michael again made his way to the kitchen, leaving those two.

“So, how was the war you’ve just fought?”

“Huh?” Ashton stared at Calum in confusion.

“You know, the war? Why else would you be so tired?” Calum mocked.

“Hey, be nice,” Ashton warned, jokingly.

“I will, as long as he behaves.”

“Fine, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Calum nodded when Ashton got up. What had he been thinking? If Ashton had come in ten minutes earlier, he would have found them lying one on top of the other on the couch. He was glad he was lucky that one time and he would make sure not to have a repeat of that in the future. Normally, he was never a careless person and always thought twice before doing anything but since that thing with Michael, he did not know what was happening to himself. The usually predictable Calum was more spontaneous and at times, he would even surprise himself. Next time, instead of letting Michael decide on things, he should be the one doing the thinking because he was the rational one while Michael was simply crazy and never thought about consequences.

“Hey,” Michael nudged him, getting him out of his thoughts.

“Ashton’s in his room.”

“I know, kiss me.”

Calum could almost laugh at that. “No, go.”

“But…”

“Just go,” Calum shook his head and urged him to go.

Sighing, Michael made his way to the older boy’s room. He smiled and pushed the door open before setting the cup on the bedside table and dropping himself on the bed. He bit on his nails as he impatiently waited for the other boy to be done but when he made no move, Michael closed the lid of his laptop and grinned at Ashton, who looked at him.

“I wasn’t done,” Ashton sighed and set his glasses aside. “But it can wait.”

“I got your coffee. So, where did you go?” he leant against Ashton and laced their fingers together; Ashton was always so sweet and he felt bad about ‘his plan’ but he was not Calum and he would never be able to live with such a big sacrifice.

“I went for a stroll.”

“A stroll? By car?”

“I went for a drive,” Ashton corrected with a laugh. “Did you talk to Calum?”

“Yes I did but can we not talk about Calum? This is our moment.”

“Sorry,” the older boy mumbled and pressed his lips to Michael’s knuckles. “Have you thought about it yet?”

“About what?”

“Moving in here with me?”

“You mean with you and Calum? He’ll never agree.”

“I thought you guys were okay now. Maybe I could talk to him.”

“Let’s not rush things. We only talked today and it’s gonna take more time. But that does not mean it’s a no,” Michael pressed a kiss to his lips. “I will move in here, at the right time.”

“You’re a sweetheart.”

Michael shook his head at that. “No, you are the sweetest guy I know.”

“No, you are sweeter.”

“Less than you though.”

“You’re sweeter than I can be.”

Their little bickering went on for long minutes, to the point where they were no longer arguing but laughing at each other. Michael had dozed off and Ashton smiled to himself as he watched the other boy. He looked so serene and innocent next to him, although those were not words he would use to describe Michael when he was awake, which were the complete opposite of those. That did not prevent him from loving the other boy any less because having Michael in his life brought something he did not know was missing in his life. He did not know when but looking at Michael and feeling the warmth coming from him, he fell asleep too.

Michael did not know how much later it was but he woke up when he felt Ashton shift beside him. “Hey,” he said sleepily.

“Hi,” Ashton whispered.

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“Around forty-five minutes.”

“Wow, the bears are hungry in there,” he chuckled when he heard a loud grumbled coming from Ashton’s stomach. “I’m gonna see what Calum’s making for dinner. You coming?”

“I’ll just finish up those emails. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Ok.”

He walked to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, watching Calum actively prepare dinner. He was so engrossed in what he was cutting that he did not even notice Michael standing there. Calum hummed to the tune that was playing on the stereo and stirred the dish that was on the stove. In all the times he had been there, Michael had never seen Calum not grumpy and was hoping it would stay that way. He tip-toed to the other boy and quietly stood behind him before pressing a kiss to the back of Calum’s neck, causing the younger boy to jolt in surprise.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Calum asked and eyed the door.

“Relax, Ashton’s in the room finishing up some work. Can I have my kiss now?”

“No, not now. Not with Ashton around.”

“Is that all you know what to say, no?”

“No…” Calum whispered.

“See, again no.”

The younger boy rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you come help me instead?”

“I’m perfectly fine watching you,” Michael smiled and hopped on the counter. “So, are we doing it?”

“For the hundredth time Michael, no. I thought you promised you wouldn’t mention it again.”

“Yeah, but you said two hours and two hours ended a long time ago. So, have you changed your mind?”

“No, Michael, no.”

“Why not? For once, can’t you just not think about Ashton and think about yourself?”

“No, I can’t. People don’t step on their friends for their own happiness. My answer is still no.”

“Please, say yes. Come on.”

“Say yes to what?”

They both turned their heads at the same time to look at Ashton, who had entered the kitchen.

“Huh,” Michael cleared his throat. “I was just asking Calum to let me stay over for a week.”

While at the same time Calum said, “Michael was trying to convince me to go away for the weekend.”

Ashton looked back and forth between them a few times. “Which is it?”

“Actually I’m trying to make Calum agree to let me stay over for a whole week and then I was also hoping he would kindly leave us alone for a weekend.”

“In your dreams, Michael.”

“Please Calum, just say yes.”

“Why don’t you get your ass up and help me instead?”

“Would that make you change your mind?”

“Nope. I’m not changing my mind ever.”

“Calum, you know how stubborn he can be, just say yes,” Ashton, who had been quiet, looked at Calum expectantly.

“What? Not you, Ashton. You have no idea what he’s asking for? And I can’t agree to that.”

“It’s just a weekend,” Ashton stated.

“If you two want to be alone so badly, why don’t you go somewhere instead?”

“You want me to go?” Michael asked as he hopped off the counter.

“Yes, Michael, leave.”

“Fine, as you wish.”

Four days, he had been trying to make Calum agree for four days and it was honestly getting on his nerves, hearing the other boy decline him every time. If that was what Calum wanted, so be it. He moved to Ashton and claimed his lips. “We’re not wanted here. Let’s go.”

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum lay in his bed, on his back, and stared at the ceiling. It had almost been a week since he had last seen Michael or heard from him and even though he was kind of missing him, Calum knew exactly why Michael was doing that; he was trying to make him change his mind. How could Calum change his mind? Already, sneaking around with Ashton’s boyfriend was wrong and what Michael was asking, it was simply out of question. Although, not seeing Michael for a whole week was hard, harder than he had thought, and that was how he had found himself waiting for Michael under a tree behind the canteen at uni.

“Calum? What are you doing here? Where’s Ashton?”

“At home?”

“He texted me and told me to meet him here.”

“No, I texted you from Ashton’s phone because you clearly wouldn’t reply to my texts or answer my calls.”

“You wanted me to go away, right?”

“No… I did but… I miss you.”

Michael smiled at that and moved to kiss the other boy.

“Michael, not here,” Calum mumbled as he looked around.

“Not here, not there, not anywhere. Ashton is not here, what’s the problem?”

“But other people are.”

“I don’t give a fuck about what people think or say. Just kiss me.”

“Michael, we seriously can’t,” Calum said, although it hurt him to say it.

“When is it okay for me to kiss you?” Michael sighed in frustration.

“It’s never okay for you to kiss me, not as long as you’re Ashton’s boyfriend.”

“Why the fuck did you call me here then? To let me know that it’s never okay for us to do something together?”

“No, I…”

“I’m done here.”

Calum closed his eyes and took a deep breath, grabbing Michael’s wrist as the other boy turned to leave. “Wait!”

“What now?”

“Ok, fine. Let’s do it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know, the thing about me and you and you know…”

“What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense,” Michael said, clearly still annoyed.

“I’m ready to do what you want me to do. Let’s hook Ashton up and we can get together.”

“How can you want that? Ashton is your best friend.”

“Fuck it! This was a mistake. I wanted to do something for you but never mind.”

“Alright, alright. You’re sure about this?”

“Yes but if anything goes wrong, you’re the one to be blame.”

“You have my word.”

“One more thing.”

“Yes?”

Calum did not say anything, he only leant forward and pressed his lips to Michael’s in a quick kiss.


	7. Friends... With Benefits

“Luke,” Michael grinned as the other boy let him in and closed the door behind them. He then pulled Michael into a tight hug, which caused the older boy to smile wider and hug him back. “I missed you.”

“Same,” Luke mumbled while burying his face in the crook of Michael’s neck. “It’s good to finally see you. Are you tired? We have a lot of catching up to do,” Luke said and placed a few light kisses to the side of Michael’s neck.

“You haven’t changed one bit,” Michael laughed at the ticklish sensation of Luke’s lips against his skin but did not move away or lean into the touch; he just stayed there and hugged Luke back.

“You kinda have,” Luke again mumbled against Michael’s skin as he proceeded to suck on it.

“Luke,” Michael laughed and pulled away before dropping himself on the couch. “How have you been?”

“It was alright…” Luke said on a non-enthusiastic tone and also took a seat on the couch.

“I’m sure it wasn’t so bad.”

“Yeah. But I’ve missed you. It’s not the same without you back home.”

“I’ve missed you too and now that you’re back in the city, you’re not gonna go home soon. Did you change your mind about going back to uni?”

“Mom and Dad tried to convince me but I don’t know,” the younger boy shrugged.

“You don’t know? You’ve always been someone who was always sure about what he would do in life. What happened to that person?”

“After… I don’t know what I want to do or be anymore.”

“You need to forget about that.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Yeah, talking about that, I think I might have an idea.”

“Oh please, no,” Luke pressed his palm to his forehead. “Don’t have an idea.”

“Too late, I already have one.”

“I guess it’s useless to talk you out of it. Shoot.”

“I have something to say first. I met someone,” Michael said slowly.

“And?”

“That’s all you have to say to it, and? You’re my best friend, don’t you have to something to say about it?”

“How long is this one gonna last?” Luke laughed.

“Seriously?” Michael raised an eyebrow at Luke, who nodded. “It’s different this time but it’s a bit complicated.”

“How complicated?”

“I really like him but I’m kinda dating his best friend,” Michael bit his lower lip. “I was hoping you’d help me make things right.”

“Help you? How?”

“Try to seduce my boyfriend so that I could get with his best friend…”

“Oh, now I get why you called me here. You just want me as a distraction and I thought you wanted to see me again,” Luke made a face.

“Not a distraction… if things work out right, you’ll get somebody as well and I can tell you he’s a really nice guy.”

“Why don’t you stick with him, then?”

“Come on, Lukey.”

“Fine, I’ll think about it. Just give me some time… this is fucked up.”

“Think about it this way, you’ve been lonely for so long and maybe…”

“I haven’t really been lonely. You have been here.” Luke ran his index up and down Michael’s arm and smirked.

“Have I?”

“Yes,” Luke whispered and moved close to Michael. “Do you want me to refresh your memory?”

“Yes please,” Michael breathed when Luke squeezed his penis through his jeans.

Turning his head to the side, Michael pressed his lips to Luke’s and slowly moved them together. He cupped Luke’s cheek with one hand and shifted on the couch, so that they were facing each other and deepening the kiss. It was only a matter of seconds before things changed because Luke had grabbed the front of Michael’s shirt and had pulled him closer. He sighed against Luke lips and slightly parted his lips, to take the younger boy’s bottom lip between his teeth and suck on it. When Michael’s lips moved from his lips to his jaw, Luke tilted his head to the side and allowed the other boy more access as his mouth trailed further down to his neck. He licked the side of his neck, leaving a few wet kisses there before moving to suck on his earlobe. His hands soon found their way under Luke’s tee and he quickly pulled it off, only pulling away for a few seconds before again connecting his mouth to Luke’s skin again.

Luke pulled away and laughed. “You’re not gonna get me to say yes by doing these things.”

“Pretty please, Lukey. At least think about it. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“Of course, I do.”

“I’ll truly, genuinely be happy when I get with Calum. Ashton makes me happy but I already lost my heart to Calum, the first time I saw him. And I trust no one else but you.”

“FYI, you’re a fucking blackmailer.”

“Thank you,” Michael laughed and Luke just glared at him.

***.*.*.*.*.***

Calum knocked on the door and adjusted the strap of his backpack as he waited for Michael to open the door for him. Michael had told him to meet him at his apartment, so that they could discuss that ‘plan’ that Michael had, the same one that Calum was still not sure about but he was still there because he cared about Michael and decided to trust him.

“Hi,” Luke smiled brightly as he swung the door open.

“Uh…” Calum frowned and looked at the address on his phone to make sure he was at the right apartment; it did say the right number but it was definitely the wrong person. “Sorry, I must be at the wrong place.”

“Oh no, pretty boy, you’re definitely at the right address.”

“Is this Michael’s apartment?” Calum asked as he shifted from one foot to the other.

Luke hummed in response. “Come on in now. You must be Michael’s boyfriend, right?”

“Yes,” the brunette bit his lip because he knew he was technically not Michael’s boyfriend, at least not officially.

“Well, get in. Michael’s not gonna like it if I let you stay outside.”

“Is he here, Michael?”

“No, but he should be here any minute. Want a drink?”

“Ok,” Calum nodded and Luke disappeared into the kitchen while he took a seat on the armchair. It was the first time he was at Michael’s house and he had to admit, it was so much better than their apartment; it was much bigger and looked more pricey. That actually made him wonder why Michael spent so much time at his apartment. He was still contemplating the living room when the other boy came back with two bottles of beer. “I, uh, I don’t drink…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Everybody drinks.”

“I mean I don’t drink in the morning.”

Luke looked at the clock, which showed it was nearly noon. “It’s not morning.”

“I’ll pass.”

Luke shrugged and dropped himself on the sofa, opposite of Calum, who was staring at his linked fingers. He smiled to himself and sipped at his beer while his eyes never left the other boy. The brunette had not said anything else, he only kept staring at his hands. It made Luke wonder because he was right there but the only things Calum found interesting were his own hands. He shook his head but kept smiling; somehow, he could not keep his eyes off Calum. To be honest, he could not grasp one thing: why did Michael want to break up with that guy? It looked like Michael had won a jackpot because that guy, sitting right in front of him, was gorgeous and Michael had also said he was a nice guy. Then, why would he want to do that? In Michael’s place, he would never have let go of such a person.

Michael had showed him pictures of his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s best friend and he had to admit that Mr Boyfriend was hotter than what he looked in the photos. Although he was reluctant at first, that little agreement he had with Michael was looking promising already and he was glad he changed his mind. At that particular moment, the brunette seemed quiet but Luke was certain it was only because it was their first meeting and from what he had heard, Michael’s boyfriend was anything but quiet. As curious as he was, he could not resist but ask Michael how he was in bed and the stories he had heard, were pretty wild. Running the rim of the bottle across his lips, Luke decided to initiate the plan because why wait when he could already get started, especially when the other boy was looking so… yummy?

“I don’t think I’ve introduced myself. I’m Luke,” he grinned when Calum lifted his head to look at him.

“I’m…”

“I know who you are and trust me, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Calum frowned; Michael had told that guy about him? Who was that guy, anyway? Whoever he was, Calum did not like the way he was looking at him. “Are you a friend of Michael?”

“Friend?” Luke laughed. “Not friend, best friend, his one and only best friend. We grew up together and are inseparable. I’m surprised Michael never talked about me.” On seconds thought, he was not that surprised because who would be thinking about others when they had a guy like that?

“Nice meeting you, Luke.”

“Are you always like this?” Luke asked and moved to sit on the armrest of Calum’s chair, wrapping an arm around Calum’s shoulder.

“Umm…” Calum was saved when the door again opened and Michael walked in. “Hi.”

“Hey, you’re early,” Michael smiled and walked to the pair.

“No, you’re late.”

“Sorry, I got caught up at the store. I hope he didn’t bother you,” Michael said as he motioned towards Luke.

“He is not much of a talker,” Luke stated.

“And you shouldn’t be flirting with him, did you know that?”

“Why not?”

“Because he is not the one,” Michael shook his head.

“But he said he’s your boyfriend,” Luke said and moved to his previously occupied spot.

Michael raised an eyebrow at Calum and Calum’s cheeks instantly turned pink from embarrassment. “Boyfriend?”

“Yes, boyfriend. Do you want me to spell it out for you?” Luke rolled his eyes.

“No, this is Calum, Ashton’s best friend. Ashton is my boyfriend and I want to get with Calum. So, seduce Ashton and leave my man alone.” Michael took a seat on the armrest, where Luke was sitting a few minutes earlier, and wrapped his arms around Calum’s neck.

“Yeah, whatever,” Luke groaned inwardly; he felt stupid for jumping to conclusions without really knowing who was Calum and who was Ashton.

“Keep away from him,” Michael warned in a joking way.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Luke simply said as he walked away, clearly disappointed that Calum was not Ashton.

“So, boyfriend, huh?” Michael nudged Calum’s side playfully.

“What did you expect me to say? I walked in to see a guy in his underwear in your apartment, a guy who is not Ashton. What did you want me to do?”

“Do I smell something burning?”

“Fuck off, I’m not jealous,” Calum shook his head and bent forward to rest his forehead against his knees as he could feel his cheeks heating up again.

“Aww, come here,” Michael smiled and pulled him into a hug. “That was Luke, the guy I was telling you about.”

“The guy you want to set Ashton up with?”

“Yep.”

“I don’t think he’s the right guy. I mean, he was flirting with me and I don’t know.”

“You know I couldn’t trust anyone more than I trust Luke. He’s my…”

“Best friend. Yeah, he told me. But if you trust then I trust him,” Calum smiled and pressed a kiss to Michael’s hand.

His kisses moved up Michael’s arm, until his head was turned to the side and he pressed a kiss to the older boy’s cheek. Calum closed his eyes and gently rubbed his cheek against Michael’s light stubble before letting out a happy sigh. Smiling, Michael placed two fingers under the brunette’s chin and brought his lips closer, pressing them together. It was slow and lazy kiss, with their lips slowly moving against each other; Michael did not want to take things to the next level because he knew Calum would not feel comfortable with them making out in his living room while Luke was around. Besides, Michael loved kissing Calum like that, without any kind of rush or impulse, and he knew the feeling was mutual.

“Hey lovebirds,” Luke said out loud to the two, who still had their lips against one another.

“I thought you were napping,” Michael said as he pulled away.

“I was but now I’m not,” Luke grinned. “Calum, I’m sorry about earlier. I was confused, I thought you were Ashton. I mean, I haven’t met any of you.”

“That’s alright. It’s forgotten.”

“When do you guys want to put the plan into action?” Luke asked as he grabbed the beer he had gotten for Calum earlier and took a seat.

“As soon as possible,” Michael bit his lip.

“Or maybe we shouldn’t rush things,” Calum proposed.

“Yeah, I totally agree on not rushing things,” Luke nodded. “We need a good plan and maybe get to know each other first.”

“I already have a plan,” Michael stated. “I just need to finalise a few stuffs.”

“Maybe while you’re finalising stuffs, Calum and I can get to know each other better. How about we take this inside, for a little tête-à-tête?”

“No, whatever you do, you do it right here, in front of me. No need to go to the bedroom for that,” Michael warned.

Calum leant closer to Michael and whispered. “Do I smell something burning?” he laughed.

“Oh but you’re more than welcome to join. The more we are, the more fun we’ll have,” Luke bit on his lower lip as he looked at Michael.

“We’re fine,” Calum shook his head in disagreement.

“Actually, thinking about it,” Luke tapped his index against his chin. “If we are to execute the plan, this would be my condition. Take it or leave it.”

“You mean, a threesome?” Calum asked unsure while Michael already understood what Luke meant.

“Yes, a threesome. Me, you and Michael.”

Michael looked at Calum, who was looking back at him. He wanted to get with Calum and for that to happen, he would have to break up with Ashton and for that to happen, Luke has to get in the picture because Michael was not good at dumping people and for that to happen, he knew he had to give in to Luke. “Alright. But just this one time. After this, you keep your eyes and hands off Calum.”

“Deal. You can count on me.”

“That’s it,” Calum exhaled. “I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning. I’m going home,” he said and before Michael and Luke knew it, he was out the door.

“Calum, wait,” Michael called and ran after him. “Calum.”

“What? How could you just agree to that?” Calum turned around and asked.

“I know Luke and I know he wouldn’t give in if we didn’t agree.”

“I thought he was your best friend. Is there something else that I don’t know?” Calum asked and snorted when he saw the look on Michael’s face. “Let me guess, you guys are sleeping together?”

“It’s not like that. We aren’t but things did happen in the past.”

“Just in the past?”

“No, but it’s not like it happens often, it happened on a few occasions. Luke had a really bad break up two years ago and it left him totally shattered. Being his best friend, I was there to support him when he needed me and one night things just happened, then a few more times. If you’re worried that things happened between us while I was with Ashton, it didn’t. Luke was away and he only came a few days ago. Since that break up, Luke has not been with anyone else, except for the occasional hook ups with me. That’s why I don’t deny him or push him away because I understand what he’s been through and I don’t wanna hurt him more than he has been. He may be cheeky and too straight forward sometimes, but he’s a nice guy. Actually, today was the first time in two years that I’ve seen Luke flirt with anyone other than me. This plan that I have, I’m not doing only for Ashton, I’m also doing it for Luke but you can’t tell him. If things work out alright, we’ll all be happy.”

“Michael, I’m sorry about Luke. I didn’t know,” Calum said apologetically.

“It’s alright, I would probably have acted the same way. If you don’t want to do this, I’ll talk to Luke.”

“No, I’ll do it. Just this one time.”

“Thank you. I just have a request. Can you just give him a chance? He won’t hurt Ashton.”

“After hearing what you said, I’m willing to take that chance.”

 


	8. You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

Calum raised his hand to knock on the white door but stop mid-action and he stared at it. He had agreed to Luke’s condition but when the moment had arrived, he was not so certain anymore. Yes, he loved Michael and was willing to do anything for him; then again, what had he been thinking? He, being the person he was, should never have agreed to do that but there he was, standing in front of Michael’s apartment door. Most of all, Calum would never hook up with strangers, or anyone else that he was not with, and the thought of doing it with Luke, while Michael was right there, was not sounding tempting at all.

“Are you gonna knock or not?”

Calum turned his head to the right, to look at Luke who was leaning against the wall and smiling at him. “When did you come?”

“I didn’t yet but I’m gonna soon, if things go as planned,” Luke licked his lips as he looked at Calum up and down.

“Uhh…” Calum bit the lower side of his lip, not really knowing how to respond to that. He may have met Luke only once but there was one thing he could tell about the other boy; he was a very straightforward person and he was quite cocky. Clearing his throat, Calum smiled back. “No, I meant; since when are you standing beside me?”

“A few minutes actu…”

Calum cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “Why didn’t you say anything then?”

“I was enjoying myself watching you make those cute-funny faces,” Luke paused when Calum frowned. “You know, like those little frowns that was appearing on your forehead after every two seconds and then disappearing or the way you were scrunching your nose every now and then or how you were mumbling to yourself.”

“I wasn’t doing any of those,” Calum protested.

“I’m just saying what I saw,” the blonde shrugged.

“I don’t trust the words of strangers.”

“Ouch! Point noted but I don’t consider myself a stranger. And you’re my best friend’s boyfriend, or should I say to-be boyfriend? And I’m gonna be your best friend’s new man. So, I guess that makes us somewhat related.”

“Don’t get your hopes up; Ashton is not easy.”

“Are you?” Luke smirked.

“What?”

“I mean, you’re sleeping with me tonight and I didn’t have to try hard for it to happen.”

Calum opened his mouth to talk but nothing came out and Luke could only smile at the sight; if he had thought Calum was cute before, he was even cuter when he had that half-confused-half-embarrassed expression on.

“Are we going in or do you want to spend some more time with me in the hallway?” Luke asked when Calum did not say anything for a long moment.

Ignoring Luke, the brunette again lifted his hand and knocked on the door, hoping Michael would show up soon and he would not have to be alone with Luke anymore.

“I have the keys, you know,” Luke stated and shoved his hand in his bag, in an attempt to find them.

“Hey,” Michael smiled brightly at Calum but frowned when he saw Luke standing behind him. “How come you guys are together?”

“We’d love to chat but my shoulders are killing me,” Luke said as he pushed past Michael and walked inside. He dropped his bag on the floor, in the middle of the room before taking a seat on the couch. “And to answer your question, I went on a lunch date with Calum, you know, to get to know each other.”

“What?” Michael looked back and forth between Calum and Luke several times.

“Ugh…” Calum said but was again at a loss for words.

“Yeah, we had lunch and had a great time. I would really love to do that again, especially if I get that kiss at the end.”

“You went out with Calum?” Michael asked, the jealousy apparent in his voice.

Luke let out a loud laugh at their faces. “I was only kidding. I met Calum outside the door. Seriously buddy, you need to chill.”

“You’ll never change, will you?”

“Change? I need to change my shirt; I dropped some coffee on it earlier. Then, I’m gonna take a nap. See you lovebirds later.”

“You wanna go to my room?” Michael asked Calum when Luke was gone.

“Yeah, that sounds great. I was looking forward to spending some time alone with you.”

“And I hope it doesn’t include clothes,” Michael chuckled as he closed the bedroom door.

Calum dropped himself backward on the bed and let out a little laugh. “Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t; we’re gonna find out.”

Licking his lips, Michael climbed onto the bed and straddled Calum’s hips before leaning forward and pressing their lips together. He pulled back a little and ran the back of his fingers against Calum’s cheeks as he looked into his eyes and smiled. Calum laughed and flipped them around, so that he was on top. He then took Michael’s bottom lip between his teeth and slowly tugged on it as Michael slipped his cold hands under his tee to caress his back. Calum pecked his lips and, folding his arms over Michael’s chest, he rested his chin on them as he looked at Michael’s face. He smiled when Michael ran his fingers through his hair and sighed contentedly when the other boy gently massaged his scalp. It had been more than a week since they had spent some time alone and they were more than happy to enjoy the quiet little time they got together.

“Does Ashton know you’re here?” Michael asked, after a long moment of silence.

“Yeah, I told him I was coming to meet you and that we’re having sex behind his back.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you know how close we are. We always tell each other everything and I thought why not?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Calum let out a laugh. “Of course, I’m kidding. I told him I was going to the library.”

“That means you’ll have to go back home,” Michael slowly said.

“Yes, you can come over if you like.”

Michael was going about to speak again when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Ignore it,” Calum mumbled.

“It’s Luke.”

“What does he want? He’s right next door.”

Michael open the text and smiled before showing it to Calum.

_Come to my room and bring Cutie-Pie along :)_

“He wants to do it now?” Calum sighed and moved to a sitting position beside the other boy.

“Hey,” Michael said as he also shifted and placed his chin on Calum’s shoulder. “We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I will talk to Luke.”

“It’s not that… it’s just, I don’t know…” Calum started and tried to find the right words. “I mean, Luke’s cute and all but a threesome?”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re saying you wouldn’t mind if it was just you and Luke having sex.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Why? Are you jealous?”

“Where did that attitude come from?”

“I’m always like this. It’s just that you’ve never really talked to me before,” Calum shrugged.

“Is that so? What else don’t I know?”

“That I love you so much that I’m ready to walk into that room,” Calum said when they reached Luke’s bedroom door.

“Hang on.” Michael held Calum’s hand before he could turn the doorknob. “Would you really have done it if it was just you and Luke?”

“No, I don’t sleep around with just anybody. Shall we be done with this?”

Luke flipped his phone in his hand with impatience; he could hear Michael and Calum talking outside his door but they were not coming inside. He smiled to himself when he heard them say ‘I love you’ to each other and shortly after, the door opened. He motioned for them to join him on the bed and Michael walked towards him while Calum stayed where he was.

“I thought you wanted to take a nap,” Michael said when he sat next to Luke.

“I did but then I changed my mind. This is more important.”

Michael did not say anything but only kissed Luke. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy’s waist and pulled him closer before pulling him into his lap and deepening the kiss. The corners of Luke’s mouth turned upward and without wasting time, he enclosed his arms around Michael’s neck. At the same time, he was moving his ass in Michael’s lap while Michael was sucking on his bottom lip and his hands were moving up and down his naked back, considering Luke was only in his boxers. Luke laced his fingers through Michael’s black hair and tugged his head backward as he thrust his tongue into Michael’s mouth. On the other hand, Michael trailed his hands to Luke’s ass and cupped them as he guided the movements of his hips.

Calum’s eyes stayed glued to the other two boys and he had to admit watching Michael and Luke making out was hot. When it did not look like those two were going to pull away soon, he thought it might be the right opportunity to get out of there. He quietly took backward steps but made a face when his back hit against the dresser and a bottle of cologne fell to the floor. Luke turned his face at the sound and he smiled when he saw Calum still standing there. Pressing a kiss to Michael’s chin, Luke got up and walked to the other boy. He took his hands into his and after walking them to the bed, he gently pushed Calum onto the mattress before climbing on top of him. Tentatively, he leant forward and pressed his lips to Calum, smiling when the other boy did not pull away.

Luke pressed his lips harder against Calum’s and when Calum wrapped his arms around his waist, he dropped his weight on top of him and pressed their chests together. Taking Luke by surprise, Calum flipped them around and settled between Luke’s thighs as he gently but rapidly moved his lips against Luke’s mouth. Then, he pressed his tongue against Luke’s lips and urged him to part them; when he did, Calum pushed his tongue inside and licked the inner side of his cheek. Meanwhile, Michael shifted closer and attached his mouth to the side of Calum’s neck before lightly sucking on his skin while his hand was stroking Calum’s back. Smiling, Calum turned his head to the side and kissed Michael in turn. He moved from on top of Luke and pulled Michael closer to him.

“You guys are cute,” Luke said loudly, causing them to pull away and look at him.

Michael raised an eyebrow at Luke as he grabbed a shirt and pulled it on. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t believe you guys were ready to do this. I was only fucking with you. This is so hilarious,” Luke laughed.

“What? What do you mean?” Michael questioned, clearly confused as to what was happening.

“I just wanted to see how far you two were willing to go for each other.”

“You mean; you don’t want to have sex with us?” Calum asked to make sure he understood it right.

“No, Sweet-pea. I have a policy; I never sleep with guys that Michael is interested in.”

“I thought you didn’t sleep with anyone at all, except for Michael; at least that’s what he said,” Calum said with a smile.

“Huh… actually that’s right but that doesn’t prevent me from having that rule. And Michael, you’re my best friend. You, of all people, should have known me better. How could you think I’d ask you for something like this?”

“I don’t know. You’re so unpredictable. Are you gonna do it then?”

“Yes, I will.”

***.*.*.*.*.***

“Ashton, can you get the door? I’ve something on the stove,” Calum called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, one minute,” Ashton shouted back from the bathroom but groaned when the person knocked louder on the door; it was probably Michael who was getting impatient, even though he had a key to the apartment. He set the razor on the sink and walked to the door, swinging it open and turning away without seeing who it was.

“Huh, hello?”

Ashton turned on his heel at the unfamiliar voice. “This is embarrassing,” he laughed nervously because he was in the middle of shaving and half of his face was still covered with shaving cream. “Yes, can I help you?”

“You must be Ashton,” Luke smiled. “Is Calum home?”

“Calum?” Ashton raised an eyebrow; he knew all of Calum’s friends and he had never seen that guy before. “Come on in. Sweetie, someone’s here to see you.”

“Be there in a minute,” Calum again said loudly.

“Make yourself comfy. I’ll just finish up,” Ashton motioned to his face with both his hands.

“Luke? What are you doing here?”

“What you and Michael asked me to?” Luke stated as he looked around the living space.

Calum shushed him and quickly turned to look in the direction of the bathroom. “You’re not allowed to say Michael’s name because you’re not supposed to know him.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“You aren’t taking this seriously.”

“I am which is why I’m here but I think you guys are taking it too seriously. You need to relax. I got this, trust me.”

“You aren’t supposed to be here. We don’t even have a good plan yet,” Calum sighed. “Does Michael know that you’re here?”

“Huh, Michael kinda went out and I was bored. So, I thought of hanging out with you,” Luke grinned when he saw Ashton reappeared from the bathroom, his face all cleaned up.

“Michael’s right. He’s unpredictable,” Calum mumbled to himself.

“Hey, I’m right here,” Luke hit him in the arm.

“You aren’t supposed to hear that. I was talking to myself,” Calum said as he hit him back.

“Is everything alright here?” Ashton asked as he eyed the pair.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re all good. Ashton, this is Luke, my cousin.”

“Your cousin? How come I’ve never met him before?”

“Huh, he’s not from around. He will be attending our uni and he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I thought he could stay with us. Of course, he’s gonna contribute with the rent and all,” Calum smiled when Luke stared at him.

“Where is he gonna stay? We don’t have a spare bedroom,” Ashton pointed out.

“In my room but for the time being maybe he can crash on couch, until we get him a bed,” Calum proposed. “I’m sure Luke won’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Luke sighed; that was not part of the deal. He was already regretting because he sacrificed his comfortable bed for a couch and on top of that, he had to pay the rent. What did Calum even mean by him attending uni? He had no intention of going back to studying.

“Wait! Why does he need a bed? You have a double bed.”

Calum frowned. “Yeah but… we’re still getting him a bed.”

“Then you won’t mind sharing your bed until he gets his own. He’s your cousin.”

“Alright,” Calum gave up as it was useless to argue with Ashton.

“I like him already,” Luke whispered to Calum as they walked to the room.

 


	9. DAMN!!!

Calum bounced his legs continuously and chewed on the inner side of his cheek as he turned his phone around in his hand. He had sent a text to Michael and a few minutes had passed already and there was still no answer. He wanted to send another one but he did want to look like the desperate kind of person; so, he was ‘patiently’ waiting for Michael to reply to him. With Luke’s sudden arrival, Calum was at lost for what he should be doing, especially since Ashton had told him to share his bed with Luke. Their plan was barely conceived, actually it was not even a plan yet, and now that Luke was there, he guessed they should just go with the flow. Calum shook his head and tossed his phone on the bed beside him when Michael still did not answer before sliding onto his back and closing his eyes; some sleep would at least keep his mind away from the fact that Luke was staying in his house, in his room and in his bed.

About an hour later when Calum heard the door to his room open, he slightly opened his eyes and peaked at the intruder, who had ruin his sleep. He almost wished he had not opened his eyes when he realised it was Luke and he had two bags with him. Again closing his eyes, Calum pretended to be asleep and took a deep breath as the bed dipped beside him.

“I know you’re not sleeping,” Luke said and poked Calum’s arm with his index.

Shifting to a sitting position, Calum turned to Luke. “Why are you here?”

“To help you, dumbo,” the younger boy rolled his eyes. “And you don’t have to be so mean.”

“I’m not mean. You just came here so suddenly.”

“It was not sudden, it was a plan,” Luke let out a laugh.

“There has never been a plan, at least not yet.”

“Just relax. Leave everything to me. Ashton’s hot, by the way.”

“Why did Michael even let you come here without talking to me about it first?”

“Actually, about that…” Luke bit his lower lip nervously. “He doesn’t really know I’m here.”

Calum frowned. “What? What do you mean he doesn’t know you’re here?”

“Huh… he went to uni and I was bored. I thought we could hang out,” Luke smiled sheepishly.

“You’re crazy. That’s it, you’re crazy.”

“And you need some crazy in your life,” Luke wriggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t need anything in my life.”

“Ok, I’ll let Michael know. We can abort the mission, I’ll go away and he can live happily with Ashton.”

“Fuck! Do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make people agree to do whatever you want?”

“I have my ways. Come on, this is going to be fun.”

‘No this is going to be a nightmare,’ Calum thought to himself. “I can’t believe I have a madman in my room.”

“Yeah, and you have to make some space in your closet for this madman because he’s gonna be here for a long while.”

***.*.*.*.*.***

Ashton laughed as he entered his apartment and judging by the silence, he guessed Calum had already retreated to his room. He laughed even harder when Michael shook his head and splashed the water from his wet hair all over the place. They had gone out for dinner and got caught by the rain while they walked back home. While Ashton had chosen to take shelter, Michael had decided to stay in the pouring rain. It had taken him some time but he had eventually managed to make Ashton join him and instead of going home, they had stayed there, playing, messing around and kissing in the rain. Almost twenty minutes later, they had decided to make their way inside, where it was dryer and warmer.

“We should do this more often,” Ashton said as he took Michael’s hand and led them to his room.

“Get drenched?”

“Yeah and going out to dinner. I’ll get you a towel.”

Michael nodded and quickly slipped out of the clothes that were sticking to his body before throwing them into a bundle on the carpet by the desk. He smiled when Ashton stepped close behind him and patted his back with the towel. Turning around, he took it from Ashton and wiped himself as he watched the other boy do the same. Once he was done, he wrapped his towel around Ashton’s waist and pulled him closer, until Ashton’s back was pressed against his chest. Michael tilted his head to the side and attached his lips to the side of Ashton’s neck, to lightly peck his skin, letting his lips move back and forth from the older boy’s neck to his shoulder. The older boy closed his eyes and, dropping his towel, he let his head fall backward onto Michael’s shoulder. He buried one of his hands into Michael’s damp hair, placed the other onto Michael’s hand, which was around his waist, and laced their fingers.

A small, almost inaudible, gasp left his mouth when Michael tugged on his earlobe and Ashton rotated his hips and rubbed his ass against Michael’s penis. It was Michael’s turn to let out a whimper and at that sound, Ashton let go of Michael’s hair and slipped his hand between their bodies to tug on Michael’s dick. Michael hummed in response and trailed one of his hands lower to palm Ashton’s penis. He rubbed his balls, softly squeezed them and then moved to caress his thigh, grazing his skin with his short and blunt nails. He bit down on Ashton’s shoulder when Ashton pulled hard on his length and he mimicked the action by also adding more pressure around the older boy’s penis, which was growing harder. He licked a strip from Ashton’s shoulder to his earlobe before pressing his lips against the shell of his ear and whispering a series of dirty things that he wanted to do.

Biting the side of his lower lip, Ashton let out a low moan when Michael thrust into his fist and against his ass cheek. He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he rubbed Michael erection against ass, along his crease and then circled his entrance while Michael was lightly pumping his cock and teasing his balls. Finally, Ashton let go of Michael’s penis, turned around and, looking into Michael’s eyes, he pressed their lips together before again tugging on his erection. When a gasp escaped Michael’s lips, Ashton took that opportunity to slip his tongue past the other boy’s parted lips and licked the inner side of his cheek before pressing their tongues together. Still sucking on each other’s tongue, Ashton took little forward steps, causing Michael to take backward ones, until the back of his legs hit the bed and Ashton’s gently pushed him down onto the mattress.

He looked down at his boyfriend from under his eyelashes and exhaled; Michael had an arm folded under his head and his other hand was running up and down his chest. After grabbing the lube from the drawer, he settled on Michael’s thighs and squeezed a generous amount of the substance onto the head of his erection before smearing it with his fingers. Ashton again shifted and positioned himself on Michael’s hips, taking Michael’s dick in at the same time. Michael closed his eyes and let out a slow steady breath as he let his length be engulfed by Ashton, who let out a loud moan once he was fully seated. The younger boy opened his eyes again and cursed; it had been so long since Ashton last bottomed and he was literally squeezing Michael in him at the moment. Entwining their fingers together, Michael pulled Ashton forward and pressed their lips together, causing Ashton to smile as he kissed him back.

As their lips moved against one another, Ashton’s hips were also moving at a steady pace, taking Michael in and out of him, while Michael’s hand, which was between their bodies, was slowly pumping him. Michael’s other hand was on Ashton’s hip and he rubbed small circles into his skin with his thumb as Ashton’s mouth moved to kiss his jaw before travelling lower to his neck. He bit down on Michael’s skin, sucked it, lick it and then repeated the same process until there was a purple bruise at that spot. Straightening himself, Ashton pressed his hands flat against Michael’s stomach and rotated his hips onto Michael’s dick, contracting his muscles at the same time and causing the younger boy to let out a loud moan. Michael shut his eyes tight as Ashton kept repeating that action and in turn, he circled the head of Ashton’s penis before tugging hard on the length, earning a moan from the other boy.

**Meanwhile in Calum’s room…**

Luke let out a laugh at the sound that came from next door and he shifted on the bed to press his ear against the wall.

“What are you doing?” Calum asked as he propped himself on an elbow and looked at Luke.

“Trying to hear better.”

“What? Are you out of your mind? Get back here,” Calum ordered.

“Shush,” Luke slapped Calum’s hand away when the brunette tugged on his arm.

Sighing, Calum pulled hard on Luke’s hand and caused him to fall back on the mattress. “Stop being nosy.”

“What? I’m not being nosy; they’re just being loud. Are they always like this?”

“No, they aren’t normally noisy, except occasionally. But there was that one time when they were really loud and I had to sleep in the living room.”

“Tell me about it.”

Calum scoffed. “Fuck you!”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Come on…”

“Goodnight,” Calum dropped his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. The room fell silent for a long moment and it was almost too suspicious in Calum’s opinion because he knew that Luke was not sleeping yet. He opened his eyes again to look at Luke, who was looking at him. “What’s wrong?”

Luke blinked. “Huh… nothing…”

“Why were you looking at me like that?”

“I wasn’t,” Luke turned his head away to look at the window. Truthfully, he was staring at Calum’s lips but he could not tell him that. “I was thinking about… how to go with the plan?”

“Oh, ok. I seriously thought you were staring at me.”

“Gosh, I’m definitely not obsessed with your face to stare at it while you’re sleeping. That’s creepy and I’m not creepy.”

“Yeah, you’re a madman.”

“Do you think they know we can hear them?” Luke asked as he glanced at the wall.

“Logically they should but I don’t think they care.”

“OK,” the blonde nodded before smiling widely. “I have an idea.”

“I don’t like this.”

Before Calum could say anytime else, Luke let out a loud moan.

“Why would you do that?”

**Back in Ashton’s room…**

“Did you hear that?” Michael asked as he nuzzled into the crook of Ashton’s neck.

“What? I didn’t hear anything,” Ashton shrugged; he was too happy in their little bubble to even hear what was happening in the other room.

“There was a moan… coming from Calum’s room.”

“No, that’s impossible,” Ashton shook his head and shifted closer to Michael before rubbing their naked and sweaty bodies together. “I mean, his cousin is in there with him.”

“Cousin? His cousin is here?” Michael raised an eyebrow; why was it that it was the first time he was hearing about it?

“Yeah, he came this morning. Gonna be staying a while.”

Michael hummed in response and bit the corner of his lower lip; a cousin staying over could be an obstacle in their plan. Did Calum know his cousin would be coming over and did not say anything? After all, he was a bit hesitant to go along with the plan. “Did you hear it now?” he asked when another moan was heard.

“Yes, but… we probably heard wrong.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Michael said as he shifted.

“What if we walk in on something we should not?”

“His cousin is in there. You said it yourself.”

“Maybe Calum lied and it’s not his cousin,” Ashton said slowly but he still took the underwear that Michael gave him and pulled it on.

“Why would Calum lie to you?”

“Because he’s not ready to tell me he has a boyfriend.”

“Let’s go find out then.”

After Ashton stepped into Calum’s room, Michael followed him inside and raised an eyebrow at the sight; Calum and Luke were lying on their sides, on the bed, with their heads propped on an elbow and facing each other. Luke? what was Luke doing there? Why was he in Calum’s bed? Wait, Ashton had said Calum’s cousin was there; did that mean that they had initiated the plan? Without telling him?

“What’s going on here?” Michael asked.

At the sound of Michael’s voice, Calum turned around and he was about to get off the bed but he realised Ashton was also there; and Ashton still thought Calum disliked Michael. “Excuse me? This is my room and I can do whatever I want. What are you doing here?”

Michael felt angry but he also knew Calum was only saying those things because of Ashton. “You guys were being way too fucking loud and we were trying to sleep.”

“Yeah, I thought he was your cousin,” Ashton said to Calum.

“He is and it’s not at all what you guys are thinking.”

“Yeah, we just wanted to let you know that we can hear you too. Calum is too humble to say anything but yeah… these walls are like really thin,” Luke laughed. “I’m Luke, by the way. You must be Michael.”

Ashton could feel his cheek heat up from embarrassment and he took Michael’s hand in his. “Let’s go back to bed, babe.”

“Yeah, goodnight lovers,” Luke waved and when the door closed, he turned to Calum. “Why were you rude to Michael?”

Calum sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“I wanna hear it.”

“Another time maybe.”

“But…”

“Goodnight, Luke.”

 


	10. Jealous

Michael tapped his right foot against the concrete and again checked the time on his phone; Calum was late. He had been waiting for the brunette to get out of class, so that they could go back home together; although they never go back home together because of different class schedules, that day, Michael wanted to meet Calum because of what had happened the previous night. After waiting for thirty minutes, Michael was starting to think that Calum had left already and was probably hanging out with Luke because he had seen the two of them coming together that morning. He was not going to deny that he was jealous, especially after the noises Ashton and he had heard from Calum’s room the previous night and only that day, he got to know that Luke had same classes as Calum. He knew nothing happened between them and that nothing was going on but he could not help himself. A smile slowly made its way to his lips, he straightened himself and brushed his fingers through his hair as he noticed the brunette making his way out of the room.

“Hey baby,” Michael walked to him and hugged Calum before pressing a light kiss to his cheek.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I just got caught up with stuffs,” Calum said and leant into the touch.

“That’s ok. Come on,” Michael took Calum’s hand into his and walked them out of the building. “Where is Luke?”

“He left the moment the class was done,” he laughed.

“Typical,” Michael shook his head and smiled at Calum but his smile disappeared when he saw Calum frowning at his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Calum mumbled.

“I can tell something is definitely wrong. What is it?”

“Can… can you please hide it?”

“Hide what?”

“That,” Calum said while pointing to the purple bruise on Michael’s neck.

Michael laughed. “It’s just a hickey.”

“So? Just hide it already.”

“Why? Are you jealous?” Michael wriggled his eyebrows as his bumped shoulders with Calum.

“No.”

“Why do you want me to hide it then?”

“Because I’m not the one who gave it to you.”

“Who’s gonna know?”

“I will and I don’t want people to think that I’m the one who gave it to you when I did not,” Calum sighed. “Please. Just hide it.”

“Alright but I don’t have anything to hide it with.”

“Here,” Calum said and handed his scarf to the other boy.

“Why are you even wearing a scarf in this weather?” Michael asked and wrapped it around his neck before holding Calum’s hand again.

Calum quickly looked around the parking lot, to make sure no one was watching before tightening his grip around Michael’s hand. “Where are we going?”

“My apartment. Just me and you and…”

“Yeah, I get it. Save the details,” Calum shook his head and laughed as he got in the car.

The ride to Michael’s apartment was a short one and the moment they stepped inside the elevator, Michael pushed Calum against the wall and kissed him, taking him completely by surprise. Nonetheless, Calum wrapped his arms around Michael’s neck and kissed him back. The older boy’s hand made its way down Calum’s chest and was already going under his shirt but the door opened and an old man stepped inside, causing them to immediately pull away. Calum wiped his mouth in the sleeve of his grey hoodie as he stared at his feet with embarrassment while his cheeks were turning pink. On the other hand, Michael smiled at how funny the situation was and teasingly, he ran a hand up the back of Calum thigh before squeezing his ass. The brunette jolted and glared at Michael as he moved away from him. He watched the numbers light as they passed each floors and he wondered when they would reach Michael’s floor because the elevator seemed to be going so slow. To his relief, the next one was theirs and Calum quickly got out of the elevator, leaving Michael behind.

Calum got the key out of Michael’s messenger bag, which he was carrying because Michael thought Calum’s backpack was much cooler than his own; thus, he was carrying that instead. Peeking down the hallway, Calum smiled when he saw Michael lazily walking towards him and he smiled even wider as he closed the door. He dropped Michael’s bag on the floor and pressed his back against the door as he heard the light footsteps getting closer. Calum bit his lips when Michael knocked on the door and asked him to let him in. Very quietly, he unlocked the door and walked away from it. However, Michael did not miss the sound of the lock and he pushed the door open, only to realise that Calum was nowhere to be seen. Instinctively, he walked to his bedroom, grinning when he saw Calum lying on the bed, shirtless. He dropped the bag to the floor and made his way to the bed, jumping on the mattress next to the brunette and pressing their lips together.

Without wasting time, Michael climbed onto Calum’s hips and deepened the kiss. Their lips moved eagerly against one another and Michael let out a moan into Calum’s mouth when the younger boy tightened his arms around his waist, pressing their chests completely together. They barely got to kiss or do any other things together because Ashton was always around and now that they were alone, they were letting out their inhibitions. Michael straightened himself and placed both his hands flat against Calum’s bare chest as he rocked his ass onto the other boy’s penis. A moan left Calum’s mouth and Michael kept repeating that action while his hands caressed every inch of his exposed skin. Taking hold of the loose ends of the scarf, Calum pulled Michael back down and claimed his lips as he thrust upward against Michael’s ass. Groaning, Michael pulled the scarf from around his neck and tossed it aside because he was warming up from kissing Calum and the scarf was just being too much.

Calum mumbled something about getting naked and Michael got off the other boy, to quickly discard his clothes while Calum did the same. Once naked, they stared into each other’s eyes and slowly inched closer, pressing a light kiss to the other’s lips. The brunette lay on his side and motioned for Michael to do the same. Their lips again met and Michael wrapped a leg around Calum’s waist to bring their hips together, their hips that started to move on their own accord. Tugging on Michael’s bottom lip, Calum snaked a hand between their bodies and enclosed his fingers around Michael’s erection. A gasp escaped Michael’s mouth at the touch and he thrust forward into Calum’s fist. That only caused Calum to pump him faster and as he rested his forehead against Calum’s, Michael also took the brunette’s dick into his hand, mimicking Calum’s actions. Calum shut his eyes tighter and gasped as Michael squeezed his length and connected his mouth to the side of his neck.

He ran his tongue across the skin a few times and leaving wet kisses there at the same time before gently biting down on it. A minute into it when Calum realised that what Michael was doing was going to leave a mark, he pushed the older boy onto his back and slid down his body, leaving kisses along the way. He rolled his tongue around the head of his erection, earning a hiss from Michael, and then took the length into his mouth, until the head touched the back of his throat. Calum pulled back a little and then took him back in. At the same time, Michael folded on arm under his head and buried his other hand into Calum’s messy hair as he let himself be engulf by the warm wetness of Calum’s mouth; everything about the situation was perfect. At least it was until he heard a whistle coming from the living room.

“Shit!” Michael muttered and halted Calum’s head by grabbing a handful of his hair. “Hold on.”

“What?” Calum mumbled and licked the underside of Michael’s penis.

“Wait, Ashton’s here.”

At the sound of his best friend’s name, Calum quickly pulled away. “What? You told me he was at the library and would be for a while.”

“He was and that’s what he said. What are we gonna do?” Michael ran his finger through his hair as he looked at the bedroom door, the anxiousness apparent in his voice.

“Shit!”

“Ok, ok… umm… I’ll distract him and then you can sneak out.”

Calum’s expression changed but he knew Michael was right. “Ok.”

Michael quickly pulled his boxers on and walked to the living room, hugging Ashton’s from behind. “Hey!” he whispered into his ear.

Smiling, Ashton whispered a ‘hey’ back. “What’s that?”

“What?”

“That thing poking my ass,” he laughed.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were at the library.”

“I was but I was thinking about you and I couldn’t concentrate. So, I just came here. You never answered me. what’s that thing?”

“I was just… jerking off…”

“Good thing I’m here then. I’ll take good care of it.”

“Sure you will.”

Ashton turned around and kissed Michael fully on the lips before pushing him backward onto the couch and climbing on top of him. He pushed Michael’s hair out of his sweaty forehead and took his bottom lip between his teeth to suck on them. When Michael parted his lips and moaned, Ashton pushed his tongue past them and trust his hips between Michael’s legs. Calum, who was watching them, turned away and closed his eyes.

“The bedroom,” Ashton said into the kiss.

At the mention of the bedroom, Michael’s guards were up and he pulled away; Calum was still there. “Huh… can you get the lube from the bathroom first?”

“Sure but I want you out of these when I get to the bedroom,” Ashton grinned while tugging on the elastic of Michael’s boxers.

The moment Ashton was out of sight, Calum exited the bedroom and made his way to door, without sparing a last look at Michael. “Cal,” Michael said from his spot on the couch.

Calum did not listen to him and opened the door.

“What are…” Luke said loudly but the last part of his sentence was muffled by Calum’s palm that was pressed against his mouth.

Quietly, Calum closed the door and dragged Luke farther from it. “You can’t go in.”

“Why not?”

“Because Ashton is inside.”

“Ashton is inside and you’re outside. That sounds like Michael just kicked you out.”

Calum ignored him and walked away; although that was exactly how he had felt.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” Calum replied as he waited for the elevator.

“Ok, I’m coming with you,” Luke nodded as he followed the brunette.

Calum did not answer, he only sighed and got in the elevator, closely followed by Luke. “Why are you following me?”

“Because you’re fun and right now you look like you could use a pair of ears.”

***.*.*.*.*.***

**One hour later**

Ashton pulled Michael closer to him and pressed a kiss to the younger boy’s forehead while Michael closed his eyes and snuggled into Ashton’s warmth as he kept stroking his hair lazily, an action that was making him sleepy.

“Is that Calum’s?” Ashton asked, breaking the long silence that had settled into the room.

Michael’s eyes shot open and he quickly looked in the direction that Ashton was looking in, trying to figure out what Ashton was talking about. “What?”

“That scarf.”

“Oh…” somehow, that answer brought some relief in him. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, he loves that scarf. I can recognise it anywhere.”

“Hmm,” Michael nodded. “Last night when I came to your apartment, I saw it lying on the cough in the living room. I thought it was cool, so I took it.”

“Without knowing who it belongs to?”

“I thought it was yours,” Michael smiled sheepishly.

“Well, I better return it before he realises it’s missing and you took it. You know Calum, he’ll probably make a scene.”

“Alright.”

“And I need to get back, I’ve this really important assignment to finish for tomorrow.”

“Nooooo…” Michael whined and snuggled closer to Ashton.

“I know but it’s important.”

“Do you have to go now?”

“No, a bit later maybe.”

Finally, three hours later, Ashton was back home and instead of doing his assignment like he was supposed to, he was lounging in the living room and watching TV. After spending all afternoon with Michael, he did not feel like doing anything. All he wanted to do was to go back to him and cuddle until next morning. Michael was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he could not have asked for a better boyfriend. With a smile on his lips, he grabbed his phone, which was on the coffee table, and sent him a text. The text was instant replied to and his smile turned into a grin. He was in the middle of his sixth text when the door opened and his head shot up to meet with Calum and Luke, who were laughing uncontrollably.

“Hey Ash, you’re back,” Calum said as he dropped himself next to the older boy.

“A long time ago,” Ashton chuckled. “Where were you?”

“Oh, just hanging out with Luke.”

It was then that Ashton saw it, a hickey on Calum’s neck, and his eyes immediately darted to Luke. Calum was hanging out with Luke and he got back with a hickey; that could only mean one thing. He had his doubts but at that moment everything was clear. Luke was not Calum’s cousin, that was impossible. For sure, something was going on but he was not going to ask Calum about it, not until the brunette was ready to tell him about it himself.

Calum shook his shoulder. “Where are you lost?”

“Nowhere… nothing…”

“Weirdo,” Calum shook his head. “I’m going to change. Did you make dinner yet?”

“Huh… no, I forgot.”

“I’ll just order pizza then,” Calum said and walked to his room.

“I’ll go change too,” Luke said as he followed Calum. “How can someone forget to make dinner?”

Calum turned around and laughed. “It happens sometimes, I guess. Ashton is weird at times but he’s good at heart.”

“Today was fun.”

“Yeah, thank you. You know what? When I first met you I didn’t like you,” Calum said and Luke just stared at him. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s true.”

“What about now? Do you like me now?”

“Yeah, I mean you’re not so bad. You’re a good friend, a really good one. I really needed someone to talk to today and thank you for being that person.”

Luke smiled. “Anytime.”

 


	11. Reality Check

Luke brought his bottle of beer to his lips and took a sip as he looked around himself; he was sitting in Ashton and Calum’s living room and they were somewhat having a ‘party’, just the four of them. A month had passed since he had moved in there, in order to help Michael and Calum get together, but nothing had changed yet. On a few occasions, he had tried flirting with Ashton but the older boy had always brushed it off with a laugh and ignored his moves. As for Michael, it did not seem like he had distanced himself from Ashton one bit and Calum, well, he was just going along with whatever the situation was. The only difference there was: things had changed between him and Calum; the brunette had opened up to him, things were flowing, they were bonding and they had developed a friendship between them. On a chair opposite of him was Calum, who looked at the other three and smiled; he was having a good time and was thankful that Luke had the idea of having a party. It was a good change, considering all the things that were going on in his life.

Calum frowned when Ashton made a little hand gesture to Michael and he swore he did not want to know what it meant. It probably meant something dirty because Michael had bitten on his lips and had shifted in his seat before bending his head and smiling. They probably thought they were playing subtle but were terribly failing since there were only the four of them and like him, he knew Luke caught the whole action. Luke, Calum let his eyes move to the blonde, he was glad Luke was there. For the past couple of weeks, Luke had been there for him and he could easily share his feelings with him because despite being his best friend, Calum could not tell Ashton what he was feeling. Calum was brought out of his thoughts when something hit his chin and fell his lap. The thing in question was a little crumble piece of paper and he looked up to see Luke smiling at him. Making sure Ashton and Michael were not looking, he opened it and looked at the note that said: ‘do something’.

“I’m gonna get some more beers,” Luke said when Calum frowned at him.

“Huh… I’m gonna help,” Calum mumbled before following Luke to the kitchen. “What was that? What did you mean?”

“I mean, do something,” Luke grinned and grabbed four bottles of beer from the fridge.

“Do what?”

“Something, anything, instead of just sitting there.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. Man up and do something. You’re not going to get anything just by sitting. Go out there and make your move.”

“Are you fucking out of your mind? Ashton’s right there.”

“If you want Michael, you should take your chances. If I were you, I’d go straight to Michael, sit in his lap and kiss him.”

“But I’m not Luke, I’m Calum.”

“Just saying. The more time you waste, the more you’re screwing your chances to be with Michael. Be a daredevil, be adventurous and take some risks.”

“Do you? Take risks?”

Luke stared right at Calum; they had had that chat a few nights ago and he did not want to talk about it at that moment. “This is not about me. This is about you. I want you to go out there, walk up to Michael and tell him how much you want him.”

Calum grabbed the beers and looked back up at Luke. “I’m just gonna assume it’s the beers talking, not you.”

Grabbing Calum’s arm, Luke halted him. “I’m not done talking to you.”

“I think Luke is not Calum’s cousin,” Ashton mumbled as he peeked in the direction of the kitchen.

Shaking his head, Michael shifted to sit beside Ashton. “Again with that?”

“Seriously, I mean it. They’ve grown closer in the last couple of weeks and they hang out more.”

“Of course they will. They’re cousins.”

“They go to classes together, they come back together, they make dinner together. You know, coupley things.”

“I still think you’re over-seeing things,” Michael said and placed a light kiss to Ashton’s temple.

“What about the noises that come from Calum’s room in the middle of the night?”

“What noises?” Michael raised an eyebrow; had Calum and Luke been sleeping together behind his back?

“Sex noises,” the older boy stated.

“Sex noises? Is that even a thing?”

“You know when you have sex and you make noises, sex noises?”

“Ok… maybe it’s, I don’t know, part of your imagination. Calum would not have sex with Luke.”

“How can you say that so confidently?”

“Huh…” Michael licked his lips as he tried to come up with an excuse. “I’ve known Calum since we’ve been dating and even if we don’t always get along, I can tell that he’s not the kind of person who would sleep with just anyone.”

“You have a point but Luke is not just anyone. He moved in here with us, remember?”

“Why don’t we talk about this later? We’re having a party,” Michael said when he saw Calum and Luke walking back into the living room.

“Beer?” Calum held two bottles out for them and as Michael reached for one, he intentionally placed his hand over Calum’s for two seconds before taking the drink from him. “Jerk,” Calum mumbled under his breath because Michael was being one; first, he had one hand going up and down Ashton’s thigh and then he had the guts to hold his hand.

“What was that?”

“Nothing… I was just saying I love this song. Woooooo… let’s dance,” Calum laughed and started to move from side to side.

Smiling, Michael placed his beer on the coffee table and joined Calum before moving his hips to beat of the music.

“What are you doing?” Calum placed a hand to Michael’s chest and halted him as the older boy was moving closer to him.

“Dancing,” he laughed.

“And what makes you think I want to dance with you?” Calum scoffed as Luke pressed a palm to his face and shook his head; Calum was hopeless. He had the perfect opportunity but he had just blown it off.

“Whatever,” Michael shrugged and, grabbing Ashton’s hand, he pulled him up. “Dance with me, Baby.”

Calum made a face when Ashton pressed himself against Michael and started to move along and he walked to Luke before dropping himself beside him.

“You could’ve danced with him, you know?”

“I know but I wanna make him pine for me.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Luke smiled and looked at Ashton and Michael. “It could have been you dancing like that with him.”

“But it’s not,” he sighed.

Calum also turned his attention to them and let out another sighed; Michael had his arms around Ashton’s neck while Ashton had his hands on Michael’s hips and they were swaying together. Little by little, they moved even closer and Michael smiled when Ashton pressed his lips against his. Slowly, his eyes fluttered close and he moved his lips against Ashton’s, gently at first and then more impatiently. Ashton’s hands tightened their grips around Michael’s hips and gradually, they trailed lower to cup his ass cheeks. That action caused Michael to let out a moan and Calum had to look away. He kept his eyes on a cushion that was on another couch as he brought his beer to his lips and gulped it down. Luke, who had his eyes on Calum, sighed. He again glanced at the couple; Ashton had whispered something into Michael’s ear and Michael smiled before nodding. It was only a matter of seconds before the two of them walked away and Luke shifted closer to Calum.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Yeah, why won’t I be?”

“Because of Ashton? Because of Michael?”

“I’m fine, Luke. I’m actually used to this.”

“Yeah but I see the hurt on your face when they do something together.”

“I’m not hurt. What are you talking about?” Calum said with a laugh.

“Ok, I know we’ve known each other for barely two months but we’re friends now and I’m not stupid.”

“I think you are. Stupid Luke,” the brunette again laughed.

“Haha…” Luke poked his tongue out at him. “You know what I think?”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to say something stupid. I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

“Too much? This is only my fifth. Anyways, listen.”

“I’m listening,” Calum said as he pulled Luke’s beer from his hand and took a sip of it. “Don’t look at me like this. Mine’s over.”

“Well, I think you’re wasting your time. Michael’s never gonna be yours.”

“You can’t say that. You’re Michael’s best friend and you’re supposed to give me hope.”

“I know but I don’t wanna give you false hope. I know I’m Michael’s best friend but right now, he’s just being a jerk. If he loves you as much as he claims, what is he still doing with Ashton? No, don’t interrupt me because I know you’re gonna say they’re boyfriends. If you ask me, he looks pretty much happy with Ashton and it seems like he’s not ready to let go of that. I know you’re gonna ask me why but I have the answer for that too. He’s in love with Ashton, it’s so fucking obvious because if he was not, he would’ve have left him a long time ago for you. And with you, I don’t even know what he wants. Sex, maybe. Is that what you want? Michael to just want you for sex? You deserve so much better than that.”

“You talk so much,” Calum stared at Luke.

“Well, you didn’t try to shut me up. So, I kept talking.”

“What? You didn’t let me interrupt. You just kept going on and on. You know what I still think? It’s not you, it’s the alcohol talking.”

“Wake up, Calum.” Luke placed both his hands on Calum’s shoulders and shook him.

Calum looked at Luke, who was so close to him, and the moment Luke’s eyes met his, he felt a shiver run down his spine. Instinctively, he leant in and pressed their lips together. His lips were soft and moist and tasted like beer and they were delicious and tempting. Calum sighed as he pressed his lips firmer to Luke’s, who placed a hand to Calum’s cheek, cupping it. Luke? He was kissing Luke? Shit!

Calum quickly pulled away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise because that would mean you regret doing it,” Luke mumbled as he licked his lips.

“Don’t you regret it?” Calum asked with a frown; did Luke want to kiss him?

“No, I don’t. Do you?”

“Huh… I don’t know but I think it’s best if we forget it and pretend it never happened. I think I’m gonna call it a night.”

**.*.*.*.*.*.**

“Morning,” Michael smiled as he strutted into the kitchen where Calum was making breakfast. “Your omelette smells delicious.”

“Good morning,” the younger boy smiled back as he flipped the egg. “Want some?”

Michael wrapped his arms around Calum’s waist from behind and kissed the side of his neck. “Yes. You smell so good.”

“Stop it. Ashton might walk in and I don’t want to have to explain myself to him.”

“Ashton’s sleeping. Come on, just one little kiss.”

“No, Michael. I said stop,” Calum said a little louder than Michael had expected and pushed him away.

“What’s wrong, Babe?”

“Babe? Where was your Babe last night? I don’t think I can do this anymore. It’s getting unbearable.”

“Wow, someone woke up on the wrong foot. Will you at least tell me what’s going on?”

“Do you love me, Michael Clifford?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Do you or not? Answer me,” Calum said firmly; the previous night, after getting in bed, he had thought about what Luke had told him and to some extent, Luke was right. And thus, he needed answers from Michael.

“Of course I do.”

“Then do something about it.” Calum pulled the napkin that was hanging on his shoulder and angrily tossed it on the table.

“Trust me, I’m doing everything I can.”

“Are you? You know, it almost feels like Ashton is everything and Calum is nothing. Luke was right.”

“Oh! This is about Luke. I hear you two have been fucking every night. What about that? Didn’t you think about me then?”

“What? Me and Luke?” Calum snorted. “Seriously I’m not sleeping with him.”

“What about the noises coming from your room then?”

“It was just Luke jerking off when I was not there. Besides, why would you get mad if I was sleeping with him? I don’t get mad when you’re sleeping with Ashton.”

“Ashton is my boyfriend,” Michael stated.

“Yeah, I’m not. I’m not your property, you shouldn’t get mad.”

“Cal, this is ridiculous. I don’t even know why we’re fighting.”

“We’re fighting because you’re a jerk.”

“What can I do to clear your doubts and show you that I love you?”

“How about you man up and do something about it? Like tell Ashton the truth for one.”

“Ashton? He’ll be mad and upset and hurt.”

“You say you love me but then you keep kissing Ashton in front of me and that hurts me but if you were to kiss me, you’d wait for Ashton to be away or sleeping to do it because you don’t want to hurt him. What does that look like? That Ashton is more important and he’s the one you love.”

“It’s not even like that and you know it. I don’t even know where you get these ideas from,” Michael said as he tried to be logical. “He’s your best friend, for fuck’s sake.”

“Fine. Do what you want and I’ll do what I want.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael frowned.

“Good morning,” Luke said as he walked into the kitchen. “Huh… did I come at a wrong time?”

“Of course not. Do you want some omelette?” Calum smiled at him.

“Is everything ok in here?”

“Perfect,” Calum said, without giving Michael the opportunity to talk.

Michael stayed quiet at that moment but the wheels in his head were working double time. What did Calum mean when he had said he would do what he wanted? Did he make a mistake by bringing Luke into the picture? No, what was he thinking? Luke was his best friend and he would not anything to hurt him. Something else was up with Calum and he had to find out what it was before it was too late.

 


	12. Change Of Scene

Calum scratched the back of his head and exhaled deeply; he was tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. He turned the page of the book that was in his lap but was not really reading or paying attention to it. How could he, when his mind was elsewhere? It had been two weeks since his argument with Michael and things had not been resolved between them yet. He was intentionally not talking to Michael but deep down, he was feeling bad about it. To be honest, he was missing the other boy but he concluded he could not always let Michael get away with things because that way, nothing would ever progress between them. As if on cue, his eyes landed on Michael, who was walking, hand in hand with Ashton. Despite not wanting to, the brunette cursed inwardly; Ashton pressed a kiss to Michael’s cheek and Michael smiled even brighter before kissing the older boy’s lips. Luke was right. How could Michael proclaim he loved him so much and still look so happy with Ashton?

“Hey,” Luke smiled and dropped himself beside Calum, who did not acknowledge his presence. “Calum,” he called again but when Calum did not answer, he turned his head in the direction that Calum was looking in and sighed. Pulling the book that was with the older boy, he hit him on the head.

“Ow!”

“What is this?”

“A book?” Calum replied with uncertainty. In the two week that he had kept his distance from Michael, he had gotten to know Luke even better and he was glad he had another friend other than Ashton because he had realised there was nothing he could not talk to Luke about.

“No, what’s happening here? No, don’t say you were reading a book,” Luke shook his index in front of Calum’s face when he was about to speak. “Your attention was clearly somewhere else.”

“No, I was reading, not that you’d know of because you were not here.”

“I was not here or you did not realise I was here?” Luke asked and added when Calum did not know what to say, “that’s what I thought.”

“Stop keeping an eye on me.”

“I wasn’t. I just came and talked to you but you were too busy staring at Michael and Ashton to notice.”

“I wasn’t staring at them. I was only thinking about class…”

“Do you see it?”

“See what?” Calum frowned.

“Right there in the middle of my forehead. It’s written ‘fool’.”

“Shut up.”

“Exactly. You tell me you’re fine but then when I really look at you, all I can see is stress.”

Calum scoffed. “I’m not stressed.”

“Yes, you are. Everything that’s been happening is stressing you and you can’t even realise. I know exactly what you need.”

“Yes, I need Michael.”

“No, you need a break, from Michael and from everything else. You need a change of scene, a different environment to breathe.”

“No, I don’t need to go anywhere. You’re seeing more to things than there is.”

“Unfortunately sweetheart, you don’t get to decide. We’re going away for the weekend and that’s final. Now, let’s go home. We’ve got some packing to do,” Luke said excitedly before getting up and pulling Calum to his feet.

“Lukeeee….” Calum whined when the blonde dragged him behind him.

“Stop being lazy.”

“Stoppp… I don’t feel like walking…”

Luke stopped and turned around with a wide grin. “Well, in that case, I have no choice but to carry you home.”

“What? No,” Calum looked around them when Luke stepped closer to him. “Fine, I’ll walk.”

“That’s like the good boy that you are,” Luke laughed and again led the way.

***.*.*.*.*.***

“Heyyyy,” Michael said and jumped on Ashton’s back.

“Whoa,” Ashton laughed as he tried to keep his balance. “Where were you? I called you before but you didn’t pick up.”

“I was driving and my phone is on silent.”

Ashton turned around and pushed him on the bed before settling beside him. “I wish you would move in here, with me,” he said as he caressed Michael’s cheek.

“With Calum? Huh!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He already has a problem because I come over so much and now if I move in? You can only imagine.”

“I’ll talk to him. If he can have that supposed-cousin-who-is-most-probably-his-boyfriend guy stay in his room, why can’t my boyfriend stay with me?”

“Where are they anyway? I didn’t see any of them when I came,” Michael said although Luke had told him he was going to meet his parents.

“Calum told me he’s going out and won’t be home for the weekend and the other dude, I don’t know. For all we know, they might have gone together.”

“You’re still not over that, are you?”

“No… because I know I’m right. Anyways, guess what? They’re not here and that means, we have the house to ourselves,” he smiled as he wriggled his eyebrows.

“I love when you have dirty thoughts,” Michael ran his hand down Ashton’s chest and placed it on his penis.

Still smiling, the older boy took hold of that hand and, bringing it to his lips, he pressed a kiss to his fingers. “Gotta shower first. I went for a jog and I’m all sweaty.”

“I love a sweaty man,” Michael whispered against his lips.

“I’m sure you do but I still gotta shower. Be back in a few minutes,” Ashton pressed a quick kiss to his lips and left the room.

Michael rolled onto his back and folded his arms under his head before closing his eyes. Surprisingly enough, ever since that fight in the kitchen, he had not really thought about Calum. Why? Because he thought Calum was being too demanding. He knew he had promised Calum he would do what it took to be with him but in order to do so, he needed time, something the brunette was not giving him. After that kitchen incident, he had talked to Luke but the younger boy had assured him there was nothing going on between him and Calum; thus, Michael had concluded it was just Calum’s insecurities. So, he had decided to ignore him and give him time to come back to his senses. He figured if he stayed away from the younger boy, he would realise his mistake and things would be sorted out between them. As he took his phone to check the time, it rang in his hand and he smiled when he saw that it was a video call from Luke.

“Mikey, what’s up bear?” Luke said and Michael could tell that he was lounging on his bed.

“So, you really did go to your parents’ house?” he asked when he noticed the familiar surroundings.

“Yeah, where else would I be?”

“I don’t know,” Michael said when he recalled Ashton’s words.

“You look happy,” Luke commented.

“Why won’t I be? You’re not here, Calum’s not here and Ashton and I get to spend the whole weekend alone.”

Luke hummed. “I see…”

“Why are you still in your pjs?”

“Because I’ve been in bed since the morning and I’m too lazy to get up,” he laughed.

“Wait! Is that Calum?” Michael frowned when he thought he saw a shirtless guy that looked like Calum walk in the background.

“Yeah…”

“What is Calum doing at your house? And why didn’t you tell me that he was going with you?”

“I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you that detail,” Luke shrugged. “We’re just hanging out.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I thought you said you’re glad we aren’t there and you get to spend more time with Ashton.”

“He said that?” Calum interrupted.

“Huh…” Luke turned to look at Calum but only stared at him, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, I said that. So?” Michael said on an annoyed tone. “You didn’t even take the pain to tell me that you were going away.”

“I didn’t think it was important to tell you and I don’t need your permission to go anywhere. I can go where I want, with who I want and when I want.”

“This is bullshit. So, you’re fucking Luke now?”

“No, but even if I am, you can’t be mad because you’re fucking my best friend too.”

“Ashton is my boyfriend,” Michael scoffed. “And what is Luke to you?”

“I don’t have to answer that. This conversation is over.”

Michael stared at the phone as the call ended and he tossed the device aside. Why were things so complicated? How did things get so complicated? Actually, everything started going wrong when they had decided to execute his plan. It was supposed to make everything better but the contrary was happening. It turned out Ashton was right after all. From the beginning, Ashton had been telling him there was something going on between Luke and Calum but he never believed him. Michael was brought out of his thoughts when something damp hit his hand and he turned his head to the side, only to realise it was a towel and Ashton was standing at the foot of the bed, naked.

“Where were you lost?” Ashton grinned.

“Nowhere…” Michael grabbed the towel and with a dry piece, he patted Ashton’s thigh. For the two weeks that he had been ignoring Calum, he had grown even closer to Ashton and for a moment he felt guilty because he knew how much Ashton loved him. That phone call made him realised that he might have been wrong about everything. He was ready to leave Ashton for Calum but did he really love Calum? Had he confused his attraction for love? Love, that was something he felt mostly when he was with Ashton and in those two weeks, he had never felt happier in his life; it was like he was falling in love all over again, not with Calum but with Ashton. “That was a quick shower.”

“No, not really. You were too lost in your thoughts to realise how much time passed.”

Michael lifted his eyes to look at Ashton’s face and, biting the left side of his lower lip, he leant forward and pressed a kiss to the older boy’s hip bones, one after the other. “What are we gonna do all weekend?”

“I can think of a few things,” Ashton smiled and laced his fingers through Michael’s hair. “How about we start by getting some lunch?”

“Lunch? I know just what I want to eat right now,” the younger boy smirked as he rubbed his palm over Ashton’s penis.

Ashton hissed at the contact. “Shit!”

Michael looked at Ashton’s face and he felt warm all over; he wanted to tell Ashton everything but he did not know how to. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ve noticed, since I came back from the shower, you look upset. Is there something wrong? You can tell me about it.”

“No, nothing,” Michael smiled and shook his head. He figured it was not the right time to discuss those things.

***.*.*.*.*.***

“Calum, you know Michael doesn’t really mean what he said,” Luke sighed.

“How can you say that?”

“Because he’s my best friend and I know him well enough. When he’s mad, he just barks anything without really thinking about it. I know you’re mad too and if you guys keep fighting, you’re never going to solve anything.”

“I’m not mad at him. I just wish that he’d stop treating me like that. You were right about everything. When he’s with Ashton, I am nothing but when he’s with me, Ashton still means everything.”

“I never said those things. All I meant was that Michael is living his life and you should live yours too.”

“Yeah and what’s that? I should accept that Michael loves Ashton more and I should move on? I get it. He never loved me. He only wanted to get in my pants. And I want to move on because it’s for the best.”

“Are you sure about this? Don’t make any rush decision that you’ll regret later. Whatever you choose to do, always listen to your heart because that’s the best thing you can do.”

“Let’s face this, Luke. I’m never going to take Ashton’s place in Michael’s life and I’m not sure I want to. Ashton is my best friend and I want him to be happy. I would never be able to live, knowing that I hurt him. I should have thought about that earlier but I was too caught up in what Michael was offering to see I might end up hurting my best friend.”

“You always amaze me, Calum, since the first time I met you. You’re like the nicest person I’ve met in my whole life. You’re always making sure others are happy. I’m glad I met you andiwannakissyou,” Luke bit his lips as the last part came out.

“What was that?”

“I’m glad I met you and you’re a good friend?”

“No, that’s not what you said. Never mind, I’m glad I met you too,” Calum smiled and pressed his lips to Luke’s; he had heard what the younger boy had said but only wanted to confirm if he had heard right.

“Wow,” he mumbled when they pulled away. “What was that for?”

“I’m just listening to my heart.”

Calum pushed Luke onto his back and, climbing on top of him, he straddled his thighs before connecting their lips again. He cupped Luke’s cheek and pulled back a little to lick Luke’s lips, ran his tongue across his bottom lip and then took it between his teeth. Letting out a tiny gasp, Luke wrapped his arms tightly around Calum’s waist. The first time he had met Calum and had mistaken him to be Ashton, all he had wanted to do was to feel those lips against his and to taste them but then it turned out Calum was not Ashton and he was disappointed. He was glad that Calum had kissed him because he was finally getting to feel those lips. He pressed his palms flat against Calum’s naked back and moved them up and down, feeling the warmth coming from his skin. His eyes fluttered open when Calum pulled away and sat on his thigh before reaching out and opening the little buttons of his flannel pyjama shirt. The brunette pushed it aside and exposed his chest, letting his eyes take in every little details; the little hair on his chest, his hardened nipples, his flat stomach and the hair that trailed down from his belly button, to disappear under the elastic of his pants.

He slowly leant in and took Luke’s left nipple into his mouth, chuckling against the bud when Luke thrust his hips up and against his ass. As his tongue twirled itself around the nipple, Calum pressed his ass against Luke’s penis and moved his hips back and forth. Everything was happening at a rather slow pace but the heat between them was quickly rising and the situation was rapidly turning them both on. Without stopping the movements of his hips, Calum moved to the other nipple and took it into his mouth. He sucked on it lightly and then tugged on it, smiling when Luke hissed and repeated it a couple of times before letting go of it. Then he pressed a little kiss to the middle of Luke’s chest and kept placing a few more, going lower and lower every time. When he reached his pyjama bottom, he pushed them out of the way and blew on the head of Luke’s penis. He wetted his lips and enclosed them around the head. Locking eyes with Luke, he ran his tongue around it in a circular motion and smiled when Luke again thrust upward.

Still keeping the eye contact, he opened his mouth wider and let it slide over Luke’s length, engulfing it in the process. Once he reached about halfway, he stopped and pulled back before taking it in again. At the same time, one of his hand was moving at the base and his other hand was inside his own sweatpants, pumping his own penis. Luke lifted his head off the mattress and after grabbing a fistful of Calum’s hair, he tugged on it lightly and guided the brunette’s mouth back to his. In a matter of seconds, he had flipped them around. He got rid of his clothes and proceeded to undress Calum before settling between his parted legs. After coating himself with the lube, which he had gotten from the drawer, he aligned the head of his dick with Calum’s hole and gently, he pushed it in. Luke looked at Calum’s face and seeing that the older boy had his eyes tightly closed and nose scrunched, he leant forward and connected their lips as he kept burying himself inside. As he whispered a few words against Calum’s lips, the other boy smiled and relaxed himself.

It did not take long for Luke’s hips to move back and forth and every time he would push inside a little moan would escape Calum’s mouth. Calum wrapped his arms around Luke’s neck and in turn, he pushed onto Luke’s penis and then rotated his hips against Luke’s hips. Seeing that his penis was being neglected, Calum slipped a hand between their bodies and took hold of it. That action was a short one because Luke had pushed his hand away and replaced it with his own. He squeezed a large amount of lube onto the head and let it drip down the length before smudging it all over. A couple of thrusts later, he pulled out of Calum and shifted to settle on his hips. It was only after he felt something warm around his penis that Calum opened his eyes and he realised that Luke was about to ride him. He did not expect he would be saying that but Luke looked good from that angle; his hair was messy and was sticking to his sweaty forehead, his eyes were closed, lips slightly parted and his head was tilted backward.

Calum propped himself on his elbows and cursed when he caught sight of his dick disappearing into Luke’s ass every time the younger boy would slide down on it. If he had thought it was hot before, at that moment it was even hotter because the temperature in the room was quickly escalating and he was breathing heavier. The brunette eyed Luke’s penis that was bouncing along with his movements and he enclosed his fingers around it. He did not waste another second and he was already pumping him hard and fast. Luke let out a loud moan when Calum unexpectedly thrust upward and he dug his fingernails into the skin of the older boy’s chest. As Calum again thrust upward, Luke dropped himself forward to let the other boy take control and as the clock ticked, it sent them a little closer to their orgasms. Luke was the first one to come, spilling his cum onto Calum’s stomach and a few seconds later, he felt something wet and warm inside of him. Slowly, he got off Calum and settled beside him as they both tried to catch their breaths.

“Fuck!” Calum laughed after a long minute.

Luke turned his head to the side and stared at the other boy, wondering what he was laughing at.

“You must be wondering why I’m laughing. I was laughing at myself for missing out on the good stuff.”

“Is it a good thing?”

“Yep, definitely.”

“Now what?”

“We’ll see. Thank you for taking me away.”

“Anytime,” Luke smiled.

“Now give me a hug,” Calum pouted and reached out his arms.

 


	13. Let's Be Honest

Michael posted another picture of himself to his Instagram and smiled as he wrote a cute caption to it. It was the eighth picture he was posting in a row and he knew he did not have many followers to like them but he wanted to share them anyways. He was not going to lie; he had the best weekend of his life and he thought he might let the world, or more precisely his 126 followers, know about it. He was going to wait until he got home to do that but since Ashton had gone out to get some groceries, he thought why not? As it was, he had time and nothing great to do. He smiled as he got five likes and a comment on the last picture and was about to reply to the comment when the door flung open and a loud laugh was heard, followed by Luke and Calum. They were finally back, Michael scoffed.

“I know. That was so fun,” Calum said through his laughter.

“You’re back,” Michael said with crossed-arms. “You didn’t even bother telling me where the hell you were going.”

“You knew I was with Luke,” Calum shrugged.

“Huh… I’ll leave the two of you to talk,” Luke interrupted before making his way to Calum’s room.

“Yeah, after you left.”

“Like I said before, I don’t need your permission to go anywhere and I needed to get away to clear my head.”

“Or you needed to get away to fuck Luke,” Michael raised an eyebrow.

Calum sighed. “Look Michael, I don’t want to fight with you. All we keep doing lately is fight and it should stop.”

“Did you or not sleep with Luke?”

“How does it matter?”

“I just need to know. You know I…”

“Don’t say it,” the younger boy interrupted. “I did have sex with Luke.”

“I knew it. I fucking knew it,” Michael threw his arms in the air and shook his head in disappointment, anger, disgust, he did not know. “How could you? He’s my best friend.”

Yes, Calum knew that but Luke had been there for him in times when he had no one and desperately needed someone to talk to. He had not planned on having sex with Luke and it just happened and he did nothing to stop it. Maybe it was because deep down he knew he needed a reason to move on and Luke just happened to be that reason. He had a great time with Luke during the weekend but that did not stop him from thinking about what would happen and what he would do once he would be back home. He had taken his time and came to the decision that was the best for everyone. It had been sixteen months since he had first seen Michael and during that time, he had spent the most amazing and worst time of his life, had done things that he had never thought he would do, had lied to his best friends on countless occasions and had felt like he was the worst friend in the world. So yes, it was about time he did something about that.

“Don’t stay quiet,” Michael urged.

“I know, I know we had something but I think we got it all wrong. I was wrong about the whole thing, about you, me, us. We misunderstood something else for love and I think it’s time to set things right. It had taken me time but I finally realised that you are not the one for me and I’m not the one for you. The past couple of days have been an emotional rollercoaster for me and it got me thinking. I can see that you’re meant to be with Ashton. It was him all along and not me.”

“Calum, what are you…”

“Wait, I’m not done. I can see that you’re happy with Ashton and he is happy when you’re around. You, like, complete each other. The least I want to do is to ruin that for you, especially for Ashton. I’m sorry for trying to get in between you two. We thought we liked each other and set off to do something but what did not see was that we were going to ruin everything. I want to fix things while there’s still time and while we still can. You deserve each other.”

“So, you’re ending things between us?”

“Wake up, Michael. Things were never meant to start between us.”

“Is this because of Luke?”

“No, this has nothing to do with him. I took this decision on my own but I’m dating him.”

Michael did not know how to react to that; Calum breaking up with him or Calum dating Luke. “So, I’m just going to watch you walk away and not be able to do anything about it?”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to be honest.” Without saying anything else, Calum went to his room and pressed his back to the door as he closed it.

“So, what happened?” Luke, who had been pacing back and forth, asked.

“I broke up him.”

Seeing the look on Calum’s face, he decided to lighten the mood. “How can you break up with him if you never dated him?” he let out a little laugh.

“Right,” Calum smiled. “You know what I mean. Umm… there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

“First, promise me you won’t be mad.”

“What is it?” Luke asked with impatience.

“Huh…”

“You want me to leave your apartment, don’t you? Now that I’m not needed?”

“No… it’s bigger than this.”

“What did you do? Did you hit him?”

“No,” Calum laughed as he looked at Luke. He may not have known him for a very long time but in that short period, he had grown close to Luke. It had always been him and Ashton, then Michael came and Calum had to fit him in life but what he did not know was that he was trying to fit the wrong puzzle piece in his life. The past sixteen months he had first been too busy ignoring Michael and then too busy being wrapped around Michael’s finger to realise that he needed other people in his life as well. He was grateful to Luke for making him realise that.

“Calum, you’re scaring me,” the younger shook his shoulders to bring out of his thought.

“I told him we’re dating. Please don’t hate me. I had to, otherwise he would never let me go. I’m sorry.”

“That’s it? That’s what you were so scared to tell me about?”

“You are not mad?”

“No, I’m not but… I know someone who’s going to be mad at me.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Luke dropped himself on the bed and let out a sigh. “It’s okay. He’ll be fine. I know him.”

“I hope I did not say too much. I told him so many things, probably hurt him in ways that I never intended.”

“But you’re happy with your decision, right?”

“Yes, I am. Ashton is my best friend, we grew up together and I’m happy that he’s happy. He means a lot to me and I would never be able to live with myself knowing that he was hurt because of me.”

The blonde hummed in response before smirking. “And you’re happy dating me?”

“What?”

“I’m just saying what you are saying. You said you’re happy with your decision and doesn’t that include you dating me?”

“I… I only said…”

“I’m messing with you,” Luke laughed and pulled Calum beside him.

“What if I meant it when I said it?”

Luke propped himself on his elbow and looked at Calum with a raised eyebrow. “You want to date me?”

“Yes,” Calum said on a serious tone while trying to hide his smile.

Luke was confused; did he hear right? When he had first met Calum, he had thought the brunette was hot and he would not mind getting something going with him. Right then, at that moment, deep within him, something clicked and he was instantly attracted to him. He wanted to get closer to the other boy and that had not happened to him in a very long time, not since his last relationship. While agreeing to be part of Michael’s plan to seduce Ashton, he had grown close to Calum and despite not wanting to, he did fall for him but he kept those feelings buried because he knew Michael and Calum liked each other.

“Luke, where are you lost? I’m just messing with you too.”

Luke only stared at the boy as Calum started laughing; for a moment, he thought he had a chance. “Of course, you are. Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Because you are one the nicest guy I know and you’re cute.”

“Ok, now I’m confused. Were you or were you not joking?”

“I was but then I wasn’t.” Calum scratched his head and turned to look at Luke.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Calum did not answer, he only leant forward and closed the gap between them, to press his lips against Luke’s parted ones. “There you got your answer.”

“I would love to be your boyfriend,” Luke said against his lips before connecting them again.

**Back in Ashton’s room…**

Michael walked to the window and stared at nothing in particular as those words kept replaying in his head. That was it, just like that, Calum had ended everything between them. After months of trying to make things work, he had decided to give up on everything without even talking to Michael about it first. Then, he had said something else that was eating Michael’s inside; he was dating Luke. As he thought about it, he realised that was when things started to go wrong. The moment Luke was in the frame, the distance between him and Calum kept increasing. He had seen that coming for quite some time and yet, it came as a shock to him. Although he could not really blame Calum because the younger boy was right; he had a boyfriend and Calum, he had no one and was free to do what he wanted. Ashton, Michael sighed. As the days went by, he could not help but feel guiltier for doing that to Ashton, lying to him and cheating on him. He could not imagine the look on the older boy’s face if he ever were to find out.

However, Michael had to tell him. He could no longer keep him in the dark because Calum was right for a second time; he was indeed very happy whenever he was with Ashton. It was like nothing else in the world mattered when they were together, not even Calum. As horrible as it sounded, Calum would never come to his mind when he was in Ashton’s company while he would always think about Ashton when he was with Calum. Calum was right for a third time; they misunderstood something else for love. They were never meant to be together. It was just him and Ashton all the time but he was too dumb to realise that. He knew in his heart that at that moment, he was head over heels in love with Ashton but he had let something as ordinary as an attraction get in between. But not anymore, he would set things right and to do that, he would have to be honest with Ashton as well. Michael was brought back to reality when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist.

“Hey,” Ashton smiled as he placed his chin on Michael’s shoulder.

“Hey, when did you get back?”

“Just now. I saw your photos on Instagram. They’re cute.”

“Thanks,” Michael smiled without moving.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Michael took a deep breath and turned around before taking Ashton’s hands into his. He walked them to the bed and took a seat, waiting for Ashton to do the same. “Luke’s not Calum’s cousin.”

“Ha, I knew it. They are sleeping together,” Ashton said confidently.

“He’s my best friend. He only came to stay here just so he could seduce you.” Michael swallowed the lump in his throat as Ashton turned to stare at him. “I know what you’re thinking but let me explain. I love you and I want to be honest with you.”

“Okaayyy…”

“The first time we met, Calum was the one who caught my eyes. I wanted him but he never seemed to care and then we became friends and we started dating. The reason I dated you was to get close to Calum.” At that point, Michael could no longer look at Ashton and he directed his eyes to the carpet instead. “It was shitty of me, I know. Then, one night, a few months ago, I had sex with Calum because I knew he liked me back. And I was right, he did and he was only holding back because of you. I didn’t have the courage to break up with you and that’s where Luke comes in, to seduce you. I thought that if you liked Luke, you’d break up with me and everybody would be happy. While doing that, I did not realise how much I love you and what I was losing, until the past couple of weeks when things were hectic between me and Calum and that you’re the only one who can make me smile, no matter what the situation is. I’m sorry, I’ve been trying to tell you for a few days now. I just didn’t know how to. Say something.”

Ashton ran a hand through his hair and balled the other into a fist beside him; he felt hurt, betrayed by both his best friend and boyfriend. “You’ve been fucking my best friend behind my back and you expect me to believe you when you tell me you love me?”

When put that way, it sounded horrible but Michael knew it was the truth. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care. You’ve played with my feelings and now, I feel nothing for you. Do you even know what it’s like to love someone?”

“It took me some time to realise it but yes, I love you, a lot.”

Without saying anything else, Ashton got up, grabbed Michael’s duffle bag and Michael’s arm before dragging him to the door. He pushed the younger boy outside and tossed the bag on the floor. “It’s over.” He slammed the door, not caring that a tear was rolling down Michael’s cheek. Angrily, he grabbed the vase that was on a table by the door and smashed it on the floor. He wanted to scream and break everything that was within his reach but he did not when he heard voices. “How could you?” he yelled as he yanked open Calum’s door.

“Ashton?”

“Don’t talk to me. You were my best friend and I trusted you and what did you do? You fucked my boyfriend behind my back.”

“Ashton, I can explain.”

“There is nothing to explain. You have five minutes to get the fuck out of my house. And you too,” he pointed at Luke.

 


	14. Too Late For Apologies?

Ashton stared at his phone that was ringing until it stopped before turning onto his other side and closing his eyes; all he ever wanted to do lately was sleep. That was the seventh call from Michael that day and the hundred and something call that he was ignoring since the last two weeks. What Michael had done was unforgivable, he had broken Ashton’s heart and trust and he did not wish to speak to him again. Ashton could still clearly recall that day, the day that Michael had told him he had been sleeping around with Calum. How could he not have seen it when it was all happening in his house, right under his nose? Yeah, he could not because he thought Michael loved only him and would never hurt him when in fact, the younger boy was using him to get to Calum. He was certain there was nothing lacking in his love but for Michael, it was all pretence and he ever wanted was Calum, most probably Calum’s dick.

As for Calum, he was Ashton’s best friend and the older boy would trust him in a heartbeat and he thought he meant the same to Calum as Calum meant to him but he was wrong. If only Calum had the balls to tell him that he liked Michael, he would have gladly stepped aside but he had chosen to keep him in the dark and do things behind his back. He wanted to hate Calum for what he had done but somehow he could not because he had known Calum all his life and Calum was like a brother to him and that was probably the reason why it hurt even more. He felt like he meant nothing to any of them and he was only the bridge to get them closer. They had both played him and he had let that happen. Had he really been that dumb? And what hurt the most was that they were two of the most important people in his life. Ashton groaned when he felt his eyes fill up and he pushed those thoughts out of his head. He did not want to cry again.

He turned to look at his phone as it rang and, realising it was Calum, he again decided to ignore it. A few seconds after the call ended, he got a message, probably from Calum, but without seeing it, he shoved the phone under a pillow, out of his sight. After knowing that horrible truth and kicking both Calum and Michael out, he had spent the next two days crying in his bed. After two days, he had digested that fact and had finally gotten up to eat because he was starving and his body was screaming for some food. Two weeks had passed and all he did was eat, sleep, go to the bathroom and stare at his phone when he would get a text or call that he would ignore; any other thing seemed unimportant and irrelevant and he would rather not do them. He was so done, with Michael, with Calum and with everything that involved them. He was going to forget everything that had happened and pretend like they did not exist. He concluded that it was what was best for him and that was what he was going to do.

**At Luke’s house…**

Calum pressed the phone to his ear and bit his lip when he heard the ringing tone and waited for an answer. After so many calls, he wished that that would be the time when Ashton would finally pick up and he would hear his voice. He did not mind if Ashton was mad at him or scolded him; at least, he would know that the other boy was fine. He knew that Ashton was angry at him and he had every reason to be but not hearing from him for so many days made Calum feel even guiltier. The call ended like every other ones and he decided to send him another message, saying how sorry he was and he would do anything for Ashton to talk to him again but he had the impression that one was also going to be ignored.

“Will you put that phone away?” Luke said as he wrapped his arm around Calum’s waist in a comforting way.

“I’m worried about Ashton, he has not called me in two weeks and he did not reply to any of my texts or calls. He didn’t come to uni again. This is the first time that he is mad at me for this long. Usually if we have an argument, we always sort things out within an hour or two but two weeks? Damn, I messed things up so much that he doesn’t want to talk to me again.”

“Calum, I’m sure it’s not the case,” Luke reassured and Calum frowned at him. “I mean, he’s mad. Yeah, I know but anyone in his place would be. Think about what we did and how he must be feeling about it after knowing everything.”

“See, even you agree.”

“Only partly because I’m sure he’ll be fine. Just give him some time. Trust me, time heals.”

“But still, I was so stupid, selfish and an ungrateful friend. He must hate me.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t. You’re too sweet and no one can ever hate you.”

“Sweet? Sweet? After everything, I’m anything but sweet. I’m just horrible, awful, disgusting even” he mumbled.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. At that time, you did what you thought was right but when you realised it was all a mistake, you did try to fix things and make them right. Then, how can you say you’re those not-so-pleasant things? You’re a nice guy Calum.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re my boyfriend.”

“No, I’m saying that because that’s the truth. Stop thinking about that now,” Luke licked his lips and placed two fingers under Calum’s chin and made him face him before taking his lips between his.

Slowly they both closed their eyes and let their lips move lazily against one another. Calum wrapped one arm around Luke’s neck and shifted closer to him before taking the blonde’s bottom lips between his teeth and sucking on it. When Calum had first met Luke, he had thought he was too straightforward, also very cocky and all he wanted was to keep his distance from him. However, at that moment, he could not feel luckier to have Luke in his life. It had taken him lots of time but he had realised that he could never be a part of Michael’s life and he was doing nothing but ruining his best friend’s happiness and he feared that he had ruined every bit of friendship that he shared with Ashton. He quickly pushed those thoughts aside when Luke pushed his tongue past his lips and into his mouth and he moaned against the younger boy’s lips. Pressing his palm flat against Luke’s chest, Calum gently pushed him backward, onto the mattress, and climbed on him, only breaking the kiss momentarily. He again pressed his lips to Luke but pulled away when there was a knock on the door.

“Hi!” Luke smiled when he opened the door.

“It’s so good to see you,” Michael smiled back and pulled Luke into hug. “I missed you so much. It’s been so lonely without you.”

“Come on in. I did call you twice and you did not answer, so I assumed you needed space and time to figure things out but I’m so glad you came.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I was so upset and I don’t know… I’m just sorry,” Michael sighed.

“I thought you were never going to talk to me again. You know, because Calum told you we were dating?”

“Although it came out as a shock when he had told me but I kinda did see that coming. I mean, ever since he met you, things have not been the same between me and him. I’m not blaming you,” Michael added when Luke raised an eyebrow at him. “I can only blame myself for everything. I wanted too much when I already had everything I needed and now I have nothing.”

“Come here,” Luke pulled him into bear hug when he saw how dejected Michael was.

“Who is it?” Calum asked as he got down the stairs and frowned when he saw Michael. “What is he doing here?”

Michael pulled away and stared at Calum. “This is my best friend’s house. What are you doing here?”

“Huh…” Calum bit his lower lip. “I had nowhere else to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you guys make yourselves comfy? I’ll get us some coffee and I think there are muffins that mom got yesterday,” Luke said as he made his way to the kitchen. He knew they needed to talk and it would be best if they did it alone.

“Ashton kicked me out of our apartment after he kicked you out. It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to get my things. Since I didn’t want to go to my parent because they’d want to know what happened, why I was alone and why Ashton was not there, Luke asked me to stay with him. You were right, Luke is really a nice guy. Have you heard from Ashton?”

“What do you mean? I was going to ask you that question. I keep calling him but he doesn’t answer my call or reply to my messages.”

“Same here. He didn’t even come to uni for the past two weeks,” Calum sighed.

“I’m sorry about everything that had happened. It’s all my fault; Ashton being upset, Ashton not talking to anyone and you getting kicked out of your apartment. I’m sorry, Calum.”

“Yeah, it was. None of this would have happened if you had not come to my room in that fucking kitty costume.”

“What? You’re blaming the kitty costume?”

“No, I’m blaming you.”

Michael scoffed. “None of this would have happened if you were not looking so cute that day when I accidentally spilt my coke on Ashton’s shirt.”

“Now, this is ridiculous. Fucking ridiculous, Michael. All of this happened because of your stupid idea and now you’re blaming me because you thought I was looking cute? Great,” Calum threw his hands in the air. “As always, it’s useless talking to you.”

“And as always, you have to argue with me,” Michael huffed.

“I’m not arguing with you. I’m only agreeing with you. You said it was your fault and you’re right, it is.”

“Unbelievable. I agree that it was my mistake to want you but what about you? You wanted me too. What about that?”

“You seduced me.”

“I never seduced you,” Michael stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Really? Who was it who said ‘I’m a kitty, pet me’?”

“So? Just because somebody tells you that, you go have sex with them?”

“I didn’t want to, you were begging.”

“If I recall proper, it didn’t take long before you gave in.”

“Fuck. You’re still so annoying,” Calum shook his head.

Michael again scoffed and the next second, they both started laughing. “This is just like old times. I wish things happened differently and things were still like before. I miss Ashton.”

“I miss him too.”

“That was a weird conversation,” Luke said as he came back with a tray.

“Were you listening?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

“Small house. Besides, I wouldn’t have missed that conversation for anything in the world,” Luke laughed. “So, are we all good now?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, Michael and it’s not only your fault. I’m equally to be blamed. I wish I could tell you everything would be fine but I can’t.”

“Apologies accepted,” Michael smiled.

Calum raised an eyebrow. “You are not going to apologise?”

“I already did but you wanted to argue with me.”

“That’s not true. I never argued,” the younger boy protested.

“Guys, guys, guys, no more arguments. As much as it’s fun and I love both of you, it’s getting annoying because you’re both annoying,” Luke cut them off.

“Annoying? I thought you said I was sweet,” Calum frowned.

“I did and you are but right now, you’re being exasperating.”

“Oh! I’m only sweet when it suits you. You’re just like your best friend. Great, I rest my case,” Calum made a face.

“Hey Calum… Calum…” Michael snickered as he tried to pester him even more.

“Oh god,” Luke groaned when Calum lifted his head to glare at Michael; it seemed like those two were never going to stop bickering. “Cal, I know just what you need. Bear attack...” Luke shouted before jumping on Calum and tickling him, instantly causing the other boy to laugh.

“I didn’t know we were having a tickle party,” Michael said and jumped on them. It was only a matter of second before they all started laughing uncontrollably. “I wish Ashton was here,” he said all of a sudden.

“He will be, trust me,” Luke smiled before attacking Michael again.


	15. Fall Into My Arms

Michael opened the door and stayed frozen on the spot; Ashton was standing right there and he did not know how to react. He wanted to hug him, tell him how sorry he was and tell him how much he loved him but there was that serious look on Ashton’s face and Michael did not quite know what to make of it. Was Ashton there to fight with him again and tell him how horrible of a person he was? As much as he deserved it, he was not sure he could go through that again. They had not spoken a word for three weeks and to hear Ashton’s voice was something that Michael was craving for but the older boy stayed quiet and kept staring at him.

“Do you want to come inside?” he finally asked.

Ashton hummed and walked inside when Michael stepped aside. “I was going to talk to you yesterday at uni but I thought I’d wait for today,” he took a seat and rubbed his palms together as he tried to find his words.

Also dropping himself on the couch, Michael took a deep breath. “Before you say anything, can I tell you how sorry I am? I don’t know what had gotten into me, you loved me and I took it for granted. I was foolish I know, selfish even but I never wanted to hurt you. It took me a while but I realised I love you too.”

“I’ve spent two weeks feeling upset and wondering what I did to deserve something like that. I wanted to hate you. I wanted to hate Calum. I trusted you both so much but all you did was play with my feelings. What you guys did was really shitty and I should hate you for it. That’s the problem, I can’t. The more I try to push you away, the more miserable I feel. I just can’t seem to get you out of my head and heart.”

Michael felt a lump in his throat as those words came out of Ashton’s mouth and he felt worse than before. “I… huh…”

“From the day that we met, there’s something that I appreciate about you and that is your honesty. It must have taken you a great deal of courage to come in front me and admit the truth. Michael Clifford, I forgive you.”

“Really?” Michael wanted to hug Ashton but wanted to make sure he had heard right. With everything that had been going on lately, his mind could easily play tricks on him.

“Yes, I forgive you because I love you and life without you is not pleasant.”

“I love you too and all I want to do is hug you and kiss you. Can I?”

Ashton’s lips curved upward and he opened his arms, closing them again when the younger boy shifted and crashed into his chest. The smile never left his lips as he rubbed a hand up and down Michael’s back. On the other hand, Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of Ashton’s shampoo as he buried his face into the other boy’s hair. Amongst other things, that was one of the things that he had missed the most.

“You really are the nicest person I’ve ever met,” Michael whispered as they pulled away slightly. “I’ve missed you, I’ve missed having you close. These three weeks have been torture. I’m never letting you go again. I was foolish once to let it happen but I’m not letting that happen again.”

“Me neither. You say you were foolish but I was even more foolish. All the while, I thought you and Calum could not stand each other when in fact, it was all pretence. You acted like you hated each other so that I’d never figure out what was happening behind my back.”

“No,” Michael shook his head. “The fighting, the bickering, they were all real; no pretence. I really did love getting on Calum’s nerve. Everything between us started on my birthday and trust me, Calum did not want to. I kind of coerced him.”

“What do you mean you coerced him?” the older boy raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm…” Michael rubbed his forehead in embarrassment. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Come on, I wanna know what happened.”

“Ugh…” he pressed his palms against his face to hide it.

“Come on.”

“I’d rather not…”

“Come on, I already forgave you. I promise I won’t get mad. Tell me.”

“Seriously Ashton…” the younger boy whined.

“Fine. I’m going. Give me a call when you wanna talk.”

“Waitttt…” he grabbed Ashton’s wrist and pulled him back down. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything. Just don’t go. I had the impression he liked me and that was why he was always so grumpy when I came over. So, you weren’t there and I thought I needed to find out. I seduced him wearing a kitty costume and he kinda gave in.”

Ashton hummed. “And were you right? Did he like you?”

“Yes but he’s your best friend and he would never have done anything because he cares too much about you. None of that would have happened if… it was all my fault. But he’s with Luke now and I don’t know, they look cute together.”

“Kitty costume, huh? You never wore one for me.”

“Costume? I didn’t know you were into that.”

“I am, now.”

“Maybe I’ll surprise you with one, one day,” he whispered into Ashton’s ear.

Chuckling, Ashton turned his head to the side and pressed their lips together before whispering, “I love surprises.”

“Will you go somewhere with me?”

“When?”

“Right now. Come on, let’s go.”

“Michael… wait, not right now…”

“Come on, you’ll love it. You said you love surprises right?”

**49 minutes later**

Ashton looked around, at the unknown neighbourhood, and then turned to Michael. “Where are we? What are we doing here?”

“Something that needs to be done, trust me. That door…”

“You want me to go knock? I don’t even know who lives there.”

“Just do it.”

“Fine.” Shaking his head, Ashton exited the car and walked towards the door that Michael had pointed at. He paused for a moment before ringing the bell.

“Ashton?” Calum instantly pulled the other boy into his arms and locked them tightly around him. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re here.”

Ashton pushed him away and glared at him. “You jerk! Happy? How can you be happy? You’re just an asshole, a dick, cocksucker. You call yourself my best friend. Where were you when I needed you? Three weeks… do you know how hard they were for me? Having to sort everything out by myself, without my best friend telling me that things will be alright? Why did you leave when you knew I would need you?”

“You asked me to leave and never to come back again,” the brunette argued.

“So? You just pack up your things and leave? You didn’t think about me? Or that I was angry and that I was just saying things that I don’t mean? You know me better than anyone. You ought to have known that.”

“Pack up? You kicked me out. I only had five minutes to leave.”

“You little shit, you should’ve known that I can’t stay mad at you longer than an hour.”

“Why didn’t answer my calls then? I must have called you a hundred times, sent you a million texts. I was so worried.”

“Well, I was obviously mad at you for leaving. You abandoned me to my miseries.”

“I’m sorry Ashton, for everything.”

“On your knees and beg for forgiveness, only then will I forgive you.”

“Shut up, you smelly ass. You’re such a drama queen. Give me a hug,” Calum said and pulled him into another one.

“Finally,” Michael smiled. “Calum, how very nice of you not to invite your friends in.”

“I see that sarcasm is still your best friend.”

“Ha ha,” Michael rolled his eyes and walked inside. “Luke, where are you buddy?”

“I’m right here,” the blonde smiled as he rubbed his damp hair with the baby blue towel.

“Got any beer in here?” Michael asked and opened the fridge, pulling out four bottles. “To us and no more dramas.”

“Agreed,” Ashton nodded.

“I don’t think so. Wherever Michael goes, drama follows,” Calum said and they all, except Michael, laughed.

“Calum, will you come back home? It’s not the same without you. It’s so quiet.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Can I come too? I won’t disturb, I promise,” Luke grinned.

“Ok, but we have rules. No sex in the kitchen and living room.”

“Deal.”

“Yeah, say that to your boyfriend as well since he never listens when I say it,” Calum added.

“What can I do? I can’t help myself sometimes,” Michael shrugged.

“To new beginnings,” Luke smiled and raised his bottle.

“To new beginnings,” the other three nodded.

Michael whispered something into Ashton’s ear and then pressed their lips together while his hand was trailing up the older boy’s thigh.

“Ugh… guys, stop. Not on my parents’ couch,” Luke made a face and they all laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for sticking around and reading and kudosing and commenting... I had a great time with this and I hope you did too... xoxo

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think and also, it helps me know if I'm going in the right direction and what you expect next.


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